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John.!Bu:r7L3^Pa.blish*r,  St.Zouw  Mo. 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 


—by- 


JOSEPH  FRANKLIN, 


AND 


J.  A.  HEADINGTON. 


ST.  LOUIS: 

JOHN  BURNS,  PUBLISHER, 

1879, 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1879,  by 
JOHN  BURNS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE. 

When  it  was  announced  that  Benjamin  Franklin  was  dead, 
letters  of  inquiry  relating  to  his  biography  came  to  hand. 
It  seems  to  have  been  generally  agreed  that  I  should 
be  the  author.  All  agree  that  he  was  a  great  reformer, 
a  distinguished  preacher,  and  a  popular  writer,  whose 
memory  should  not  be  lost.  Believing  such  a  work  was 
demanded  and  anxiously  looked  for  by  thousands  of  his 
friends  and  admirers,  and  in  conformity  to  wishes  repeat- 
edly expressed  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  and  the 
wishes  of  his  surviving  relations,  the  work  was  undertaken 
and  is  now  submitted  to  the  public. 

My  father's  constant  labors  in  the  field  as  an  evangelist, 
his  unremitting  toil  as  a  writer,  in  conducting  a  large 
weekly  journal,  and  the  numerous  books  and  publications 
which  he  has  given  to  the  world,  prevented  him  from  leaving 
a  journal  of  his  life,  labors  and  travels.  This  work  has 
therefore  been  prepared  with  much  labor  and  difficulty. 

A  son  attempting  to  write  his  father's  biography  would 
naturally  incline  to  present  his  father  in  the  most  favor- 
able light.  I  have  felt  some  delicacy  lest  I  should  mag- 
nify his  virtues  beyond  degree  and  entirely  overlook  his 
faults.  While  it  is  not  pretended  that  he  was  above  all 
human  weakness,  it  can  not  be  expected  that  any  biographer 
(much  less  a  sou)  should  dwell  upon  the  defects  and  foibles 

M84542 


IV  PREFACE. 

of  his  character.  Our  purpose  has  been  to  impress  upon 
the  mind  of  the  reader  such  traits  of  his  noble  character  as 
will  tend  to  elevate  mankind,  and  such  virtues  as  are  worthy 
of  imitation. 

At  the  suggestion  of  some  of  our  public  men  and  best 
advisers,  I  have  deemed  it  wise  to  associate  with  me  in 
the  work  a  competent  helper  in  the  person  of  Joel  A. 
Headington,  well  known  to  the  public  as  assistant  editor 
of  the  American  Christian  Review,  who  was  intimately 
associated  with  my  father  for  many  years,  and  hence  is  well 
qualified  for  his  part  of  the  work. 

The  entire  work  has  undergone  his  careful  revision,  and 
several  of  the  chapters  are  written  by  him.  The  reader  may 
be  assured,  therefore,  that  he  is  not  invited  to  the  perusal 
of  a  mere  eulogy  written  by  a  fond  son,  but  that  he  opens 
upon  the  pages  of  a  fairly-written  history. 

J.  F. 


Contents  of  chapters. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

Origin  of  the  name  Franklin.— Sir  John  Franklin.— Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Franklin. — Ancestral  lineage. — Joseph  Franklin. — 
Settlement  in  Eastern  Ohio. — Birth  of  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin.— His  Sister  and  Brothers. — Occupations  of  his  Fat  her. 
— Making  Coffins. — A  Superstition. — Amusements  and  In- 
cidents of  the  younger  Franklins.— A  Severe  Test  of  Ben- 
jamin Franklin's  Physical  Strength. — His  Vigor,  Endurance 
and  Skill.— His  Father  moves  to  Henry  County,  Indiana. — 
Benjamin  at  his  Majority. — Secures  a  Farm. — Builds  him 
a  Log  House  in  the  Woods. — His  Marriage. — The  Frank- 
lins Practical  Men — Benjamin's  Habits  of  Youth  Develop 
his  Manhood. — Morals  of  his  Parents. — His  Mother  Hope- 
ful, his  Father  Despondent. — Pioneer  Employments.— A 
Mill. — Incident. — Influences  Developing  his  Character. ...       1 


CHAPTER  II. 

Current  Events. — Religious  Subjects  Discussed. — Influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit. — An  Amusing  Incident. — Denomination- 
alism  of  the  Times. — Human  Creeds.— Baptism  for  the 
Remission  of  Sins. — "A  Race  of  Frogs." — Calvinism. — 
Universal  ism. —Intolerant  or  Liberal. — Controversialism 
of  the  Pioneer  Reformers. — Warning  to  a  Preacher 16 

CHAPTER  III. 

Two  Original  and  Independent  Reformations  in  Virginia  and 
Kentucky. — The  Reformation  in  the  West  a  Union  of  the 
other  two. — The  Campbells  Expect  Great  Success.— Vir- 
ginia Reformers  not  Disposed  to  Sound  out  the  Word. — 
An  Experiment. — Mahoning  Association. — Birth  of  the 
Evangelizing  Spirit  in  the  Association. — Walter  Scott 
chosen  as  its  Traveling  Evangelist. — Sketch  of  Walter 
Scott. — Scott    on    his     Mission. — Mourners'    Bench    and 


1/ 


VI  CONTENTS    OF   CHAPTERS. 

Chapter  III.— Continued. 

page. 
Anxious  Seat. — Baptism  for  the    Remission  of   Sins. — 

Scott  at  New  Lisbon,  Ohio. — Baxter's  Account  of  his  Work 
at  Lisbon. — Reformation  in  the  Minds  of  Many  at  the  same 
time. — William  Amend. — Opposition  of  the  Clergy. — 
Origin  of  Reformation  in  Kentucky. — Scott  Joined  by 
Thomas  and  Alexander  Campbell,  Joseph  Gaston,  Aylett 
Raines,  Wm.  Hayden  and  others. — Barton  W.  Stone. — 
Stone's  Ordinal  ion. — Accepts  the  Presbyterian  Confession 
only  so  far  as  it  is  Consistent  with  the  Word  of  God. — 
Becomes  Pastor  at  Caneridge  and  Concord.— Reli- 
gious Excitement  in  Southern  Kentucky  and  Tennes- 
see— James  McGready. — Nervous  Agitations  and  Catalep- 
tic Attacks. — The  "  Jerks  "  under  Stone's  Preaching. — 
Calvinists  Awakened  to  the  Use  of  Means.— A  Preacher 
on  Trial.— Five  Preachers  Protest.— Springfield  Presbytery 
Dissolved. — The  Bible  Sufficient. — Christian  Connection, 
— Newlights.— Reformation  Extends  Eastward  and  North- 
ward ;  from  Bethany  and  Eastern  Ohio,  Extends  West- 
ward and  Southward.— Union  of  the  Two  Wings. — Walter 
Scott  Chosen  Evangelist. — Difference  between  Stone  and 
Campbell. — John  T.  Johnson  and  the  Christian  Messenger, 
— Union  of  Churches 27 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Sketch  of  Samuel  Rogers. — Moves  to  Henry  County,  Indiana 
— Benjamin's  Father  and  Mother  Protestant  Methodists. — 
His  Father's  Prejudice  against  Rogers  attracts  his  Atten- 
tion.— Benjamin  Sympathizes  with  Rogers,  and  asks,  "  Is 
it  Right  to  Obey  Christ  t" — A  Revival. — Conversion  of 
Benjamin  Franklin,  his  Wife  and  Brothers.— Conversion 
of  his  Father  and  Mother. — Joseph  Franklin  and  John  I. 
Rogers  Obey  the  Gospel. — Interesting  Sketch  of  the  young 
Franklins  and  John  I.  Rogers. — Shouting  Proclivities  of 
Benjamin's  Mother.— Sketch  of  the  Franklins  by  John  I. 
Rogers 45 

CHAPTER  V. 

An  Effectual  "  Consecration  to  the  Ministry."— Early  Efforts 
&t  Preaching,— Sk§tcjj  g|  John  I^onglev.— Peftcient  E4n- 


CONTENTS    OF   CHAPTERS.  Vll 

Chapter  V.— Continued. 

PAGE. 

cation. — Incidents. — Effort  at  Improvement. — Drilling  on 
the  Battle  Field. — An  Efficient  Grammar  School. — Sale  of 
the  Mill. — Debts  and  Poverty. — His  First  Debate. — In- 
clination to  be  a  Travelling  Evangelist. — Preaching  with 
Daniel  Franklin. — Residence  at  New  Lisbon. — John  Short- 
ridge  and  Samuel  Hendricks. — Debate  with  G.  W.  Mc- 
Cune. — Residence  at  Bethel. — Hosea  Tilson  and  Elihu 
Harlan. — Small  Salary  and  no  Salary.— Removes  to  Center- 
ville. — Sorrows  and  Deprivations  of  a  Preacher's  Wife. — 
Tribute  to  a  Mother. — Evangelist  vs.  Pastor. — "  Setting 
Churches  in  Order." — Discussion  Without  Strife 59 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Zeal  of  the  Disciples  to  "  Sound  out  the  Word."— Power  of 
the  Press.— Periodicals  Published  in  1837  and  1847 — Daniel 
K.  Winder.— The  Reformer.— Benjamin  Franklin  Be- 
comes an  Editor  in  1845.— Character  of  his  First  Periodi- 
cals.— His  Views. — Success. — Subjects  Discussed. — A  Pro- 
tracted Union  Meeting. — Comparison  of  Former  and 
Latter  Days.  —  Singing.  —  Magnifying  Existing  Evils. — 
Tours  to  Kentucky  and  Michigan.— A  Demand  for  his  Ser- 
vices.—Example  for  Young  Preachers. — "  Place  Hunting." 
— Sickness  and  Death  in  the  Family.— Family  Record. ...    76 

CHAPTER  VH. 

Enlargement  ot  the  Reformer.— A  Cheap  Paper.— Editorial 
Forecast  for  Volume  V. — Change  of  Name. — Removal  to 
Milton.— Debate  with  Manford.— Pritchard  and  Terrell  De- 
bate.—Somerville  Debate. — "  Can  Christians  gx>  to  War  ?" 
— Samuel  K.  Hoshour. — Church  of  Christ  in  Centerville. — 
Educational  Spirit  and  Enterpise.— Fairview  Academy  and 
Butler  University.  —  Church  Music.  —  "  The  Christian 
Psalmist."  —  Mr.  Franklin's  Interest  in  Congregational 
Singing. — The  Gospel  Proclamation. — Alexander  Hall. — 
«  Universalis™  Against  Itself."—  Union  of  The  Gospel 
Proclamation  and  The  Western  Reformer. — Circulation 
of  the  Periodical.—"  Emblem  of  a  Christian  Church."— 
Mr.  HalFs  Withdrawal,— "  Tour  to  Ohio."— Debate  with 
an  "Anti-Means  Baptist,"T--kiterary  Advancement,  M   ...  102 


Viii  CONTENTS   OF   CHAPTERS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE. 

Great  Men  and  Great  Names. — Alexander  Campbell. — Charac- 
ter of  the  Early  Reformers. — Co- laborers  with  Benjamin 
Franklin.— Cary  Smith. — Founding  of  the  Church  at  Har- 
rison, Ohio.— The  "  Battle  of  Whitewater."— Butler  K. 
Smith— John  P.  Thompson.— He  Joins  the  Reformation. 
— Rude  Houses  of  Worship.— The  Boundary  Line  Church. 
— The  Leaven  in  Flatrock  Church. —The  "White  Pilgrim." 
—John  Longley.— Benjamin  F.  Reeve. — The  Bible  Test,  as 
Applied  by  Him,  and  its  Result. — Ben  Davis  Creek  Church. 
— Jacob  Daubenspeck. — John  O'Kane. — Organization  of 
the  Indianapolis  and  Connersville  Churches. — Ryland  T. 
Brown. —  Flatrock  Association.  The  Four  Radiating 
Points  of  the  Reformation. — "  Two  Hundred  Dollars  a 
Year,  Payable  Chiefly  in  Produce." — Dr.  Brown's  Labors 
in  connection  with  Benjamin  Franklin 128 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Reformation  in  Eastern  Indiana.— The  Light  Radiating 
from  this  Centre.— George  Campbell  .—His  Early  Life  and 
Religious  Impressions.— From  Universalism  through  Con- 
gregationalism into  the  Christian  Church. — His  Location 
at  Harrison,  Ohio,  and  Marriage. — His  Labors  at  Oxford, 
•  Ohio,  and  in  Rush  County,  Ind. — His  Instrumentality  in 
Establishing  the  Northwestern  Christian  University. — 
Labors  at  Fulton,  and  in  connection  with  the  Christian 
Age.— His  Removal  to  Illinois  and  Death.— His  Personal 
Appearance. — Friendship  for  Young  Men. — James  M. 
Mathes.— JJisBirth  and  Religious  "K^nrp*'""  — stmo-o-ipg 
with  Orthodox  Dogmas. — The  JNew  Testament :  He  Reads, 
Believes,  and  determines  to  Obey. — "  What  am  I,  that  I 
should  withstand  God?"— His  Immersion  by  Elder  Hen- 
derson.—Gospel  Labors  — A  Student  in  Bloomington 
^  University.— Four  Thousand  Persons  Immersed.— His  De- 
bates.—He  starts  the  Christian  Record  —  His  Literary 
Labors.— Death  of  his  Wife,  and  Second  Marriage.— Mr. 
Mathes'  Views  of  Sunday-schools.— John  Wright.— Origin 
of  Blue  River  Association.— The  name  "  Baptist,"  dis- 
carded.—Success  of  Mr.  Wright's  Labors  in  Harmonizing 


CONTENTS    OF   CHAPTERS.  iX 

Chapter  IX.— Continued. 

page. 
Different  Bodies  of  Christians.— Three  Thousand  Strike 
Hands  in  one  day. — Beverly  Vawter. — He  Joins  the  Chris- 
tian Connection  and  Preaches  Baptism  for  the  Remission 
of  Sins.— Spread  of  Mr.  Campbell's  Views.— Effect  of  the 
Reformation  on  the  Baptist  Churches. — Stirring  Times  in 
the  History  of  Religion 150 

CHAPTER  X. 

Mr.  Franklin's  Persistence  in  Preaching. — Commendatory  Inci- 
cidents,  by  James  M.  Mathes. — Mr.  Franklin's  First  Visit 
to  Cincinnati. — Incidents  of  the  Tour.— Opens  the  Way 
for  his  Future. — An  Unfortunate  Marriage. — Protestant 
Unionist  removed  to  Cincinnati  and  changed  to  Christian 
Age. — An  Editorial  "Tilt."— Logic  and  Intuition  vs.  Rhet- 
oric—Changes in  the  Ownership  of  the  Age.— Partnership 
of  Burnet  &  Franklin  in  the  Age  and  the  Reformer.— Re- 
moval to  Hygeia.— Biographical  Sketch  of  D.  S.  Burnet.— 
Comparison  of  the  new  Partners.— "  Hygeia  Female  Athe- 
neum."— Suddenness  of  the  New  Arrangement.— Two 
Monthlies  and  one  Weekly. — An  Unprofitable  Business. — 
Mr.  Franklin  Abandons  his  Interest  in  the  Periodicals. — 
Specimens  of  Mr.  Burnet's  Compositions. — Unpleasant 
Social  Condition  of  Mr.  Franklin's  Family  at  Hygeia. — 
Meeting  at  Mt.  Healthy.— Mr.  Franklin's  "  Co-Editors."— 
Formation  of  "  The  Societies."— A  Strife  for  the  Mastery.  169 

CHAPTER  XI. 

A  "  Musical  Department "  in  the  Reformer.— Sketch  of  A.  D. 
Fillmore.— Mr.  Franklin's  Sermon  on  Predestination  and 
The  Foreknowledge  of  God.— Correspondence  with  Rev. 
James  Matthews.— Propositions  for  the  Carlisle  Debate.— 
"  Debate  on  Predestination."— Rise  of  Spiritualism  in  the 
"  Rochester  Knockings."— Advance  of  Spiritualism.— Mr. 
Franklin's  Views.— "  Solution  of  the  Mysteries."— Jesse  B. 
Ferguson.— Commanded  by  a  Spirit  from  the  Seventh 
Sphere  not  to  see  Mr.  Campbell.— A  Spirit  not  so  far  re- 
moved Commands  his  Attention. — Mr.  Ferguson  complains 
of  Proscription.— Unjust  Charge  against  Mr.  Franklin. — 


X  CONTENTS   OE   CHAPTERS. 

Chapter  XI.— Continued. 

page. 
His  Liberality  to  those  who  differed  from  him. — Further 
Changes  in  the  Christian  Age. — "  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Editor,"  again.— His  Association  with  it  a  Necessity. — 
Editorial  Independence. — Evangelical  Tours. — Removal  to 
Cincinnati.— Labors  with  the  Clinton  Street  Church,  and 
in  Covington,  Kentucky.— Financial  Embarrassment. — 
Incidents.— Daylight  Comes.— Relieved  from  Embarrass- 
ment, but  never  Rich 197 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Disciples  at  first  a  Unit  Against  "  the  Sects."— Reformation  vs. 
Restoration. — Rise  of  Internal  Disagreements. — Subjects 
on  Which  they  Disagreed.— I.  Congregational  Inde- 
pendency.—The  Campbells  Exchange  the  Presbytery  for 
the  Association. — Red  Stone  and  Mahoning  Associations. 
— Opposition  to  the  Association. — Its  Dissolution. — An- 
nual Meetings.  Lamentation  over  the  Extinct  Association. 
Caneridge  Reformation  on  Ecclesiastical  Organizations. — 
Formation  and  Early  Dissolution  of  "  Springfield  Presby- 
tery."— Sentiments  Expressed  in  the  "  Last  Will  and  Tes- 
tament."— Union  of  the  Disciples  with  the  Christian 
Connection  Accomplished  Without  a  Formality  .—Disciples 
Without  a  Representative  Assembly. — Young  Disciples 
Ignorant  of  the  Above  History.— "  Co-operation  Meetings. 
— District  and  State  Meetings.— Indiana  State  Meeting 
changed  from  a  Mass  Meeting  to  a  Representative  Assem- 
bly.—Distrusted  by  the  People  of  the  State.— First  Step 
toward  Denominational  Headquarters. — "  American 
Christian  Bible  Society." — "  American  Christian  Publica- 
tion Society."— A  ''Book  Concern." — "American  Christian 
Missionary  Society." — Auxilliary  Societies. — Mr.  Frank- 
lin's Editorial  Notice  of  the  Missionary  Society. — Mis- 
sionary to  Jerusalem. — Ministerial  Titles— Enthusiasm 
over  the  Jerusalem  Mission.— Editorial  Notes  by  Mr. 
Mathes  and  Mr.  Burnet.— "  Organization  "  Complete.— 
Favorable  State  of  Public  Opinion.— Principle  Involved 

^  in  the  Discussion.— Influences  which  Changed  the  Minds 
of  Benjamin  Franklin  and  others  towards  the  Missionary 
Society. — The  Society  out  of  its  Sphere 221 


CONTENTS   OF   CHAPTERS.  XI 

CHAPTEK  XIII. 

PAGE. 

II.  Relations  of  the  Ministry  to  the  Church. —Views  of 
the  Disciples  not  always  Clearly  Defined. — "  Lay  Preach- 
ing."— Views  of  Bethany. — Overseers,  Deacons  and  Evan- 
gelists.— Kentucky  Reformers  no  Record  on  this  Subject. 
— Proselyting  Zeal  in  Eastern  Indiana.— Churches  without 
Oversight. — "  Evangelist "  Gives  Place  to  "  Minister,"  and 
this  to  "  Pastor." — "  The  Pastorate  "  not  a  Seriously  Dis- 
turbing Question. — III.  Expediency  in  the  Worship. — 
Effect  of  the  Increase  of  Wealth  on  People  at  Home  and 
in  their  Churches. — Meeting  Houses. — Ministers. — Music. 
Questions  Discussed. — "Progression"  and  "Old  Fogy- 
ism." — "  Demands  of  the  Times." — Summary. — The  Peo- 
ple Wearied  with  the  Discussion,  and  Periodicals  closed 
against  it 252 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  American  Christian  Review  Founded.— Repeated  Changes 
in  Mr.  Franklin's  Periodicals. — The  Review  his  Personal 
Property. — Introduction. — Heartily  Welcomed  by  the  Peo- 
ple.— "Downward  Tendency  of  the  Reformation." — The 
Small-Pox  in  Mr.  Franklin's  Family. — Kindness  and  Libe- 
rality of  the  Covington  Church. — Travels  as  an  Evangel- 
ist.—Visit  to  Indiana.— Old  and  Young  Preachers. — "Lib- 
eralism" and  "Conservatism." — Extremes. — Decline  of 
the  Evangelical  Spirit. — Success  of  the  Review. — "Sin- 
cerity Seeking  the  Way  to  Heaven." — Elijah  Martindale. — 
Close  of  the  Review,  Monthly. — Trouble  Brewing. — 
"Where  is  the  Safe  Ground?"— Mr.  Franklin's  Position 
as  to  Slavery. — "  One-Ideaism." — The  Great  Civil  War. — 
"  Shall  Christians  go  to  War?  " — Position  of  the  Review, 
"  Constructive  Treason." — Effect  of  his  Course  on  the  Pa- 
per.—Mr.  Franklin  Works  on  the  Fortifications  of  Cincin- 
nati.— Taking  the  Oath  of  Allegiance. — Within  the  Con- 
federate Lines  at  Richmond,  Ky.,  and  Escapes  on  a  Side- 
saddle.— His  Views  as  a  Citizen. — A  Southern  Man's  Tes-  ' 
timony •  ♦ .  • .  t .  1 1 1  f  •  .♦  ♦ , f .,,.,,,.,.,,.  267 


Xll  CONTENTS    OF    CHAPTERS, 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PAGE. 

Union  of  the  Christian  Age  and  the  American  Christian  Re- 
view.— Increase  of  the  Business. — George  W.  Rice. — Firm 
of  "  Franklin  &  Rice." — Contributors  and  Assistant  Edi- 
tors.— Historic  Connection  in  Mr.  Franklin's  Publications. 
— The  "  American  Bible  Union." — "  Organization"  of  the 
Reformation  Sought  through  the  A.  C.  M.  Society. — Ken- 
tucky "  Central  Christian  Union." — Principles  Involved. — 
Indications  of  a  Desire  for  Centralization  in  a  Representa- 
tive Assembly. — Mr.  Franklin  Corresponding  Secretary, 
pro  tern. — High  Hopes  of  the  Society. — Opposition,  Modi- 
fication, Dissolution.— "  Higher  Order  of  Literature."— 
Allied  to  Question  of  Cultivated  Ministry  and  Improved 
"  Music."— Inquiries  as  to  Possible  Improvement  in  Lite- 
rature—Speculations on  the  "  Divinity  Within."— Treat- 
ment of  the  Subject  by  the  Review.— Numbers  Estranged 
y/  from  him  thereby.— Mr,, Franklin  Carries  the  Masses  with 
him.— Evidences  that  he  was  not  Personal  in  his  Opposi- 
tion.— "  New  Interest."—  The  Christian  Standard.— A 
Dreadful  Strife 294 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Reformers  not  a  New  Sect.— Early  Views  of  Denomina- 
tionalism. — The  Denominational  Idea  in  the  Reformer. — 
Held  by  Mr.  Burnet  in  1849.— Discussion  of  Ecclesiastical 
Societies  begun  in  1815.— Answer  to  "Paul  Pry." — The 
"Expediency  Argument."— Resolutions  of  the  Church  in 
Connersville,  Penn.,  and  Mr.  Burnet's  Comments.— Mr. 
Franklin's  Answers  to  Queries  by  Josiah  Jackson.— Views 
of  A.  Campbell  in  the  Christian  Baptist  and  Millenial 
Harbinger.— -The  Societies  Modified  to  Conciliate  the  Op- 
position.—Opposition  Measurably  Suspended. — Assump- 
tion of  Prerogative  by  the  A.  C.  M.  Society.— The  Hymn 
Book.— Educational  Proiects.-Slaverv.-The  Society  Crip- 
pled by  War  Resolutions  and  Financial  Disturbances. — 
Pure  Congregationalism  of  Campbell  and  Stone.— Discus- 
sion Re-opened  in  the  Review.— Mr.  Franklin  Silent  but 
in  Sympathy  with  the  Opposition.— His  Mind  undergoing  a 


i    B 


CONTENTS   OF   CHAPTERS.  XI 11 

Chapter  XVI.— Continued. 

pagb. 
Change.— "The  Louisville  Plan."-Mr.  Franklin  Deprecates 
Discussion,  Advocates  the  Louisville  Plan,  but  afterward 
Abandons  It.— His  Position  in  1876.— The  Reformers  Deci- 
dedly Opposed  to  Denominational  Organization 319 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Circumstances  which  alienated  many  of  Mr.  Franklin's  former 
friends  Part  of  his  History. — Contradictory  accusations  of 
his  Opposers. — Origin  of  Speculations  on  "Inner  Con- 
sciousness."— Younger  Men  more  ultra  than  Prof.  Rich- 
ardson.— The  Reformation  to  "  Go  on  to  Perfection," — The 
difference  Fundamental  and  Exciting. — "Defection." — 
Melish,  Carman  and  Russel. — Defection  in  Sixth  Street 
Church.— Carman's  Explanation  with  Editorial  Remarks 
thereon. — Russel  most  prominent  and  most  Ultra. — Beth- 
any Faculty  on  the  Defection. — Baptist  Comments. — Rus- 
sell repudiated  by  the  President  of  Abingdon  College. — A 
Fundamental  Doctrinal  Difference. — The  Reformation  un- 
shaken by  the  Defection « 353 


CHAPTER  XVIH. 

"Why  the  Disciples  are  Patrons  of  Schools.— Editor  of  the  Be-  ^ 
former  on  Educated  Preachers,  and  the  Connection  of 
Education  and  Christianity. — Denominational  Schools  and 
Bible  Colleges. — Kentucky  University. — Disappointment 
at  the  Results  of  College  Enterprises. — American  Bible 
Union.— Dr.Conanton  "Baptist"  vs.  "Immerser." — Demo- 
ralizing Influences  in  the  Churches.— Universalist  Festival 
and  Dance  in  Cincinnati. — Missionary  Society  on  Agitation 
of  the  Slavery  Question. — Temperance. — Mr.  Franklin  a 
Teetotaller  and  Prohibitionist.— Instrumental  Music. — Tilt 
with  Dr.  Pinkerton.— Temperate  Advice  to  Persons  Op- 
posed to  the  Organ. — Correspondents  and  Advertising  in 
the  Review 389 


Xiv  CONTENTS   OF  CHAPTERE. 

CHAPTEE  XIX. 

PAGE. 

Sketches  Illustrating  Mr.  Franklin's  Evangelical  Work.— Ex- 
tent of  Country  Travelled  Over.— Situation  in  the  Review 
Office  at  the  Close  of  the  War.— Effect  on  the  Editor's 
Health.— Better  Days. — Planting  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
in  Anderson.— Residence  of  Mr.  Franklin  in  Anderson.— 
"  The  Gospel  Preacher."— Immense  Labor  Increases  Symp- 
toms of  D'sease. — Severe  Attack  of  Pneumonia  and  Sus- 
ceptibility to  Sickness  thereafter. — Panic  of  1873. — Innova- 
tions.— Sells  the  Review. — Not  Actuated  by  the  Hope  of 
Making  Money. — His  Condition  not  Known  Abroad. — 
44  Gospel  Preacher,  Vol.  II." — Sickness  in  Richmond,  Ky. 
\/  — Two  Years  of  Affliction.— Nature  of  his  Diseases.— "  Go- 
ing into  Winter  Quarters."— Low  State  of  Health  in  Spring 
of  1877.— Failure  to  Meet  Appointments.— Travels  in  1878. 
— Exposure  in  Ohio.— Incidents  of  his  Last  Days. — Death.  416 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Mr.  Franklin  as  a  Preacher. — Character  an  Element  of  Power. 
Personal  Appearance  of  Mr.  Franklin.  —His  Gestures. — His 
Voice. — His  Manner.— His  Logic— His  Matter  Mainly 
Scripture. — His  Illustrations. — Effect  of  his  Preaching. — 
Fruits  of  his  Labors.— Eloquent,  but  not  in  a  Popular 
Sense.— Elements  of  his  Power 437 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Mr.  Franklin  as  a  Writer.— Not  Learned  but  Successful.— A 
/  •  Genius  as  a  Writer. — His  Manner  and  his  Method  Original. 
— Critical  in  a  Common-sense  Way. — His  Knowledge  of 
Greek. — His  Positions  Hard  to  Refute. — Knowledge  of 
Commentators.— Of  Human  Nature. — A  Bible  Critic. — 
Versed  in  Nature.— Not  an  Ornamental  Writer.— Not  Im- 
aginative.—No  Copyist.— Did  not  Seek  Popularity  as  a 
Writer.— Not  Sensational.— Pointed  and  Analytical 453 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Reformation  Began  with  Religious  Discussion,— Method  of  the 


CONTENTS   OF   CHAPTERS.  XV 

Chapter  XXII— Continued. 

faqb. 
Early  Reformers.— The  Ground  they  Took. — Benjamin 
Franklin  a  Giant  Among  Giants. — Meets  with  Opposition 
on  every  hand.— Discussion  a  Necessity. — His  Affirmative 
Manner.— Alexander  Campbell  the  Model  Debater.— Mr. 
Franklin's  Arguments  and  Illustrations. — Wording  and 
Defining  Propositions.— Sticks  to  the  Question. — Relies 
upon  Scripture. — Knowledge  of  the  Bible. — His  Manner. 
—His  Published  Debates. — Value  to  the  Church 466 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Review.— A  Wild  Boy  of  the  Forest. — Master  of  Ax  and  Rifle. 
Unconscious  of  his  Powers  and  Future  Destiny.— His 
First  Conviction  of  Divine  Truth. — Exchanges  the  Wood- 
man's Ax  for  the  glittering  "  Sword  of  the  Spirit." — Puts 
on  the  Armor  and  Fights  for  Christ. — Makes  an  Impression 
on  his  Neighbors  by  his  First  Efforts  to  Preach.— He 
presses  out  into  New  Fields. — Uses  both  Tongue  and  Pen. 
—Takes  his  position  with  Campbell  and  others.— Opposi- 
tion an  Evidence  of  Power. — Sources  of  his  Power. — Pos- 
sesses by  Nature  the  Elements  of  Power. — The  Great  Mind 
is  Affirmative.— Estimate  of  his  Life  and  Labors.  Will 
the  Principles  for  which  he  Contended  be  Maintained? — 
Examples  of  the  Noble  Dead.— The  Watchword.— Faithful 
to  the  End 490 


CHAPTER  L 

IN  Old  English,  the  word  •«  franklin,"  meant  a  " free- 
holder.' ■  Its  derivation  in  this  sense  is  uncertain. 
Some  regard  "  lin"  as  a  contraction  of  "  land."  "Frank '» 
means  "  lVee.,,  •*  Franklin,"  therefore,  means  "  free- 
land.  ''The  "  Franklins  "  held  their  lands  by  a  fee  simple 
tenure,  and  became  prominent  as  a  class  distinct  "from 
those  who  held  lands  by  the  feudal  tenure. 

Weems,  in  his  biography  of  Dr.  Franklin,  gives  a  very 
different  definition  and  origin  of  the  word.  He  says  ; — 
"  In  days  of  Aulcl  Lang  Syne,  their  neighbors  from  the 
continent  made  a  descent  on  the  *  fast  anchored  isle,' 
and  compelled  the  hardy,  red-ochred  natives  to  buckle  to 
their  yoke.  Among  the  visitors  were  some  regiments 
of  Franks,  who  distinguished  themselves  by  their  valor, 
and  still  more  by  their  politeness  to  the  vanquished,  and 
especially  to  the  females.  By  this  amiable  gallantry,  the 
Franks  acquired  such  glory  among  the  brave  island ers, 
that  whenever  any  of  their  own  people  achieved  anything 
uncommonly  handsome,  he  was  called,  by  way  of  compli- 
ment, a  Franklin  ;  t.  e.,  a  little  Frank." 

But  it  is  most  probable  that  the  word  "  franklin,"  in 
the  sense  of  "  freeholder,"  was  the  word,  which,  by  some 
means  unknown  now,  in  the  course  of  time  came  to  be 
applied  as  the  name  of  a  family.  This  family  multiplied, 
and  has  continued  in  England  to  our  day.  The  reader 
will  readily  recall  Sir  John  Franklin,  who  was  lost  in  an 
effort  to  explore  the  Northern  Arctic  Ocean. 

At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  family  was 
introduced  into  the  United  States  by  the  father  of  Benja- 


2  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OP 

min  Franklin,  the  philosopher.  Josiah  Franklin  was  an 
English  noii- conformist,  who  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  to  get  away  from  persecution.  He  had  been  a 
dyer  in  England,  but  in  this  country  was  a  tallow  chan- 
dler and  soap-boiler.  He  had  a  family  of  seventeen 
children,   Dr.   Franklin   being  the  youngest  but   two.* 

Dr.  Franklin  had  a  son  and  a  daughter,  or  step-child- 
ren who  bore  his  name.  His  son's  name  was  William 
Franklin.  He  was  the  last  royal  governor  of  New  Jer- 
sey, and  in  the  American  Revolution  adhered  to  the 
Crown.  During,  or  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  moved 
to  England,  where  he  died,  leaving  one  son,  William 
Temple  Franklin.  The  latter,  like  his  grandfather,  was 
a  printer  and  author,  but  without  great  distinction.  He 
died  in  Paris,  in  1873,  and  leaving  no  son,  was  the  last 
descendant  of  Dr.  Franklin  who  bore  his  name. 

The  different  branches  of  the  family  throughout  the 
United  States  trace  their  ancestral  lines  back  to  Dr. 
Franklin's  brothers. 

John  Franklin,  a  full  brother  of  Dr.  Franklin  (being  a 
son  of  Josiah  Franklin  by  his  second  wife,  Abiah  Fal- 
ger),  was  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  1703.  He 
resided  in  Boston  until  after  a  son  was  born  to  him, 
whom  he  named  for  Dr.  Franklin's  elder  half-brother, 
James.  James  Franklin  married  Hannah  Wilson,  of 
Salem,  Massachusetts.  To  these  parents  was  born  a 
son,  who  received  the  name  of  both  his  father  and 
mother  —  Wilson  Franklin.  Wilson  became  a  family 
name.  Wilson  Franklin  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary army.     He  was  in  the   battle  of  Bennington 


♦Whatever  faults  may  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  Franklin  family,  a  dis- 
regard of  the  second  clause  of  the  88th.  Terse  of  th.e  1st  chapter  of  Genesis,  is 
not  one  of  them,  g,  f, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN,  3 

under  General  Stark,  and  served  till  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  became  dissipated,  and  led  a  worthless  life.  He  re- 
sided at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  some  years  after  his 
marriage,  where  a  family  of  several  children  were  born  to 
him,  including  a  son  by  the  name  of  Joseph,  who  was 
born  in  the  year  1783.  When  Joseph  was  eighteen  years 
of  age,  his  father  emigrated  to  Eastern  Ohio,  and  settled 
opposite  to  Wheeling,  Virginia.  After  the  family  had 
sojourned  here  ten  years,  and  when  Joseph  was  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age,  he  was  married  to  Isabella  Devoid,  a 
lady  about  ten  years  younger  than  himself.  The  next 
year,  on  the  1st  day  of  February,  1812,  a  son  was  born 
to  them,  who  received  the  name  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 
At  this  time  they  resided  in  what  is  now  Belmont  County, 
Ohio.  Soon  afterward  they  removed  to  what  was  then 
part  of  Morgan,  but  is  now  Noble  County,  and  settled  on 
a  stream  called  Salt  Run,  where  they  resided  until  1833. 
Here  were  born  to  them  a  daughter  and  six  sons, 
whose  names,  in  the  order  of  their  births,  were  :  Eliza- 
beth, Josiah,  Daniel,  Joseph,  Wilson,  Washington  and 
David.  * 

While  residing  on  Salt  Run,  Joseph  Franklin  was  a 
farmer,  a  miller,  and  a  workman  in  wood,  the  demand  in 
each  of  these  directions  being  so  moderate  that  he  could 
afford  to  divide  his  energies.  The  mill  was  a  small  affair, 
located  on  a  "  wet  weather  "  stream.  When  the  wrater 
ran  too  low,  which  was  often  in  that  hill  country,  the  mill 
wras  run  by  horse  power,  four  horses  being  usually 
employed.  The  grinding  consisted  wholly  of  the  "grists" 
that  the  neighbors  brought  to  him  to  be  ground  for  their 


*  Of  these  eight  children,  only  three  survive,  viz :  Daniel,  Washington 
and  David.  The  d  lighter  died  just  as  she  came  to  womanhood.  Wilson 
died  in  infancy.    01  the  others  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter. 


4  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

home  use.  On  the  farm  was  only  a  small  u  clearing,'* 
enough  for  a  little  meadow,  a  wheat-field,  corn-field,  a 
"  truck-patch,"  and  a  pasture ;  so  that  with  the  labor  of 
his  growing  sons,  the  work  of  the  farm,  aside  from  the 
clearing  of  fresh  ground,  was  soon  done,  leaving  time  for 
cabinet  work.  He  made  chairs,  tables,  bedsteads  and 
coffins.  For  a  long  time  most  of  the  coffins  for  a  large 
district  were  made  by  him.  A  circumstance  in  connec- 
tion with  his  coffin-making  shows  that  Mr.  Franklin  and 
his  wife  were  not  wholly  free  from  the  superstitions  that 
were  common  among  the  people  of  that  day.  The  work- 
shop was  a  room  of  the  dwelling-house.  The  tools  were 
hung  upon  a  wall  which  separated  the  shop  from  the 
room  in  which  they  slept.  Among  the  tools  was  a  fine 
hand-saw,  which  he  used  a  great  deal  in  making  coffins. 
They  would  occasionally  hear  a  ringing  of  that  saw,  as  if 
some  one  had  struck  it  with  the  head  of  a  large  nail.  On 
hearing  that  peculiar  sound  they  fully  expected  an  order 
for  a  coffin,  and  were  sure  to  receive  it.  So  they  both 
declared  and  believed  to  the  day  of  their  death. 

Benjamin,  being  the  oldest  son,  gained  knowledge  and 
skill  in  all  this  variety  of  employment,  which  was  of  great 
use  to  him,  when,  a  little  later  in  life,  he  emigrated  to 
the  wilderness  of  Eastern  Indiana. 

Aside  from  this  labor  with  his  father,  he  and  his  broth- 
ers, in  the  energy,  love  of  fun,  and  heedlessness,  of  boy- 
hood, became  leaders  in  the  boyish  mischief  and  sports  of 
the  neighborhood.  Game  was  abundant,  and  every  fam- 
ily possessed  a  rifled  gun.  Often  each  of  the  larger  boys 
had  his  own  gun.  In  the  use  of  this  weapon  Benjamin 
became  exceedingly  expert.  Up  to  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage, or  perhaps  even  a  little  later,  he  was  able,  and  as 
willing  as  able,  to  carry  off  a  very  large  share  of  the  win- 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKJLIN.  5 

nings  of  shooting  matches.  He  used  to  tell  with  evident 
satisfaction,  although  it  reflected  somewhat  upon  himself, 
that  late  on  a  Saturday  evening,  after  he  was  nearly 
grown,  he  bought  or  traded  for  a  new  rifle.  He  was 
exceedingly  anxious  to  make  a  trial  of  his  gun.  The 
next  morning  was  Sunday,  and  he  knew  that  his  father 
would  be  horrified  at  the  thought  of  any  gunning  on  Sun- 
day. But  his  anxiety  overcame  him,  and  as  soon  as  he 
could  see,  he  quietly  arose  from  his  bed  and  made  off  for 
the  woods.  Going  far  enough  away  to  be  out  of  hearing, 
he  selected  some  object  which  he  thought  would  be  a  fair 
test  and  fired  off  his  gun.  "I  declare/'  he  would  sny, 
giving  his  peculiar  emphasis  to  the  expression,  "  I  thought 
it  was  the  loudest  gun  I  ever  heard.  It  sounded  to  me 
like  a  cannon,  and  I  thought  the  whole  neighborhood 
would  hear  it."  He  rallied  his  courage,  however,  and, 
after  making  a  satisfactory  trial  of  his  new  gun,  returned 
to  the  house  before  the  family  were  awake,  and  slipped 
quietly  into  his  bed  again. 

That  Benjamin  was  endowed  with  a  very  extraordinary 
physical  constitution,  would  be  readily  inferred  from  the 
immense  amount  of  work  he  performed  in  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life.  He  became  an  acknowledged  leader,  in 
his  youth,  in  feats  of  strength  and  skill.  When  a  stick 
was  held  high  enough  for  him  to  walk  under  it,  he  would 
take  a  short  run  and  easily  leap  over  it.  In  height,  he 
fell  half  an  inch  below  six  feet.  When  he  came  to  Indi- 
ana there  was  a  great  deal  of  log-rolling  to  do.  This 
expression,  however,  seems  to  have  been  extended  be- 
yond its  literal  import,  for  at  the  "  log-rollings,"  many 
of  the  smaller  logs  were  lifted  and  carried  to  the  heaps. 
This  was  a  very  convenient  opportunity  for  testing  the 
strength  of  the  working-men.     The  "  hand-spike  "  was 


b  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

a  stick  of  tough,  hard  wood,  two  or  three  inches  in 
diameter,  about  five  feet  long,  and  a  little  sharpened 
at  one  end.  It  was  used  both  in  rolling  and  lifting  logs. 
In  lifting,  the  spike  was  put  under  the  log,  and  two 
men  lifted  opposite  to  each  other  at  the  same  spike. 
Each  neighborhood  had  its  one  or  two  men,  against 
whom  few  persons  were  willing  to  lift.  Benjamin's 
known  strength  soon  brought  him  into  contests  of  this 
sort.  On  one  occasion,  he  lifted  against  a  man  of  im- 
mense size  and  strength,  but  with  very  little  activity, 
whose  name  was  Somers.  Raising  his  side  very  promptly 
aud  holding  well  up  and  a  little  over  against  him,  Benja- 
min gained  and  held  the  advantage  until  his  antagonist 
saw,  and  was  ready  to  confess  himself  beaten.  They 
passed  over  a  piece  of  soft  ground,  and  Mr.  Somers  sank 
over  his  shoes  into  the  mud,  so  that  he  held  up  his  side 
with  extreme  difficulty.  In  homely  phrase,  but  with  ex- 
ceeding good  grace,  he  surrendered  :  "  Ben,  if  you  don't 
quit  lifting  over  this  way  so  hard,  you'll  jam  me  down  into 
this  mud  so  deep  that  I  can  never  get  out." 

He  seemed  never  to  be  weary.  He  would  labor  hard 
all  day,  and  at  night  would  walk  several  miles  to  such 
gatherings  as  the  young  people  had  in  his  time.  After 
he  was  grown,  he  and  his  father  framed  and  put  up  a 
large  barn,  which  is  still  standing.  His  father  always 
rested  ah  hour  after  dinner ;  during  this  hour  Benjamin 
would  engage  a  boy  living  on  the  place  to  whistle  for 
him  while  he  danced,  with  activity  and  glee,  as  if  he  never 
had  any  work  to  do  or  any  care  about  anything. 

Although  Joseph  Franklin  and  his  wife  were  pious  peo- 
ple and  devoted  members  of  the  church,  the  evil  influ- 
ences surrounding  their  sons  prevailed  over  their  own  for 
a  time,  and  their  sous  grew  very  rude  and  profane.     It 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  7 

does  not  appear  that  their  crimes  went  farther  than  that, 
for  the  time,  they  took  no  interest  at  all  in  religion,  their 
conversation  was  full  of  profanity  and  obscenity,  and 
they  often  engaged  in  acts  of  mischief,  which,  though 
inspired  by  love  of  fun,  were  sometimes  exceedingly  an- 
noying and  even  serious,  to  the  parties  on  whom  they 
played  their  pranks.  There  was  no  improvement  in  their 
morals  until  about  the  time  when  they  obeyed  the  gospel. 
There  was,  however,  a  restraining  influence  in  the  char- 
acter of  their  parents,  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  they 
always  sought  to  hide  their  shortcomings,  not  only  from 
their  parents,  but  from  the  sober-minded  people  with 
whom  their  parents  associated.  The  influence  of  parents 
is  often  shown  more  in  the  after  life  than  in  the  youth  of 
their  children.  It  was  so  with  the  children  of  Joseph  and 
Isabella  Franklin. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1833,  Joseph  Franklin  moved 
his  family  and  effects  into  Henry  County,  Indiana,  and 
entered  a  body  of  land,  near  where  Middletown  now 
stands.  Henry  County  was  then  almost  a  wilderness. 
There  were  several  "  settlements  "  in  different  parts  of 
the  county,  comprising  a  dozen  or  more  families.  The 
one  in  which  Mr.  Franklin  chose  his  location  was  on 
Deer  Creek,  near  its  confluence  with  Fall  Creek.  It  was 
a  favored  location  in  which  to  indulge  a  propensity  for 
milling  which  showed  itself  in  the  family.  Joseph  Frank- 
lin and  all  his  sons  were,  at  one  time  or  another,  connected 
with  some  of  the  flouring-mills,  and  saw-mills,  of  this 
region. 

The  demands  of  a  new  country,  remote  from  large 
towns  and  manufactories,  and  occupied  chiefly  by  farm- 
ers, set  the  skill  and  genius  of  the  elder  Franklin  to 
Work  in  new  directions.     A  turning-lathe  was  erected  on 


8  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OP 

his  farm,  and  a  vat  for  tanning  sole-leather  was  sunk. 
He  made  shoes,  and  his  own  shoe-pegs. 

Benjamin,  now  twenty  years  of  age,  had  preceded  his 
father,  coming  along  with  his  uncle,  Calvin  Franklin,  into 
Henry  County  in  1832.  During  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  that  year  he  employed  himself  with  such  work  as  he 
could  find  to  do.  But,  on  the  approach  of  winter,  he 
learned  that  hands  were  wanted  to  work  on  the  National 
Road,  then  being  constructed  across  the  State,  from  Rich- 
mond, through  Indianapolis,  to  Terre  Haute.  Going  down 
to  Knightstown,  he  engaged  work  for  the  winter.  He  had 
not,  however,  worked  long  until  the  weather  grew  so 
cold  as  to  stop  all  work  on  the  road.  Receiving  a  fine, 
new  axe  in  payment  for  what  he  had  done,  he  returned  to 
the  settlement  on  Deer  Creek.  On  the  first  day  of  Feb- 
ruary he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  soon  after  the 
arrival  of  his  father  he  became  the  owner  of  eighty  acres 
of  land.  On  this  land  he  at  once  began  to  make  some 
improvement.  A  quantity  of  the  timber  had  been 
"  deadened,"  and  perhaps  a  small  space  cleared  up.  His 
first  point  of  interest  was  the  erection  of  a  log  house. 
He  scored  and  hewed  the  logs,  laid  the  floor,  framed 
the  doors,  windows,  joists,  and  rafters,  rived  the  clap- 
boards for  the  roof,  and  made  his  own  chimney  of  sticks 
plastered  with  mud.  Out  of  the  abundance  of  choice 
timber,  he  selected  the  very  best,  and  did  his  work  so 
well  that  the  house  still  stands,  after  a  lapse  of  forty-five 
years,  firmer  than  many  others  in  the  nieghborhood  long 
since  built.  The  house,  on  the  approach  of  winter,  was 
erected,  but  still  in  an  unfinished  condition,  when  another 
event  transpired,  to  which  we  must  now  turn  our  atten- 
tion. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  on  Deer  Creek  were  James 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  9 

and  Elizabeth  Personett,  the  father  and  mother  of  a  family 
of  fourteen  children.  Benjamin  Franklin  had  made  the 
acquaintance  of  this  family  shortly  after  his  arrival  in 
Indiana,  and  an  attachment  soon  sprang  up  between  him 
and  Mary  Personett,  the  youngest  but  one  of  the  daugh- 
ters ;  and  at  the  time  of  building  the  log  house  above  al- 
luded to,  they  were  engaged  to  be  married.  With  this 
before  him  to  stimulate  his  energy,  the  work  was  pushed 
rapidly  forward,  and  as  soon  as  it  could  be  occupied,  they 
were  married.  This  was  on  the  15th  day  of  December, 
1833.  His  wife  was  two  and  a  half  years  older  than  he, 
but  belongs  to  a  family  who  live  longer.  She  went  with 
him  through  all  his  long  career,  bore  him  eleven  children, 
and  cared  for  them  with  a  mother's  patient  and  tender 
care,  through  many  long  years  of  privation  and  sorrow, 
keeping  up  courage  and  hope  where  many  a  woman  would 
have  sunk  under  the  heavy  burden. 

As  soon  as  they  were  married,  they  moved  into  the 
new  and  unfinished  house.  The  floor  was  of  rough  oak 
boards,  put  down  without  nails,  and  the  chimney  was,  at 
the  time,  but  little  above  the  arch  of  the  fire-place.  The 
house  was  finished  at  leisure  during  the  winter ;  and  in 
spring  he  was  ready  for  the  series  of  log  rollings,  with 
which  spring  work  always  began.  These  over,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  his  own  farm.  He  had  succeeded  in  get- 
ting several  acres  cleared  well  enough  to  plow,  but  leaving 
a  large  number  of  the  dead  trees  standing,  when  a  storm 
of  wind  came  and  threw  down  such  a  quantity  of  trees 
and  limbs  that  cultivation,  that  year,  was  impossble. 
This  misfortune  discouraged  him  so  much  that  he  was 
never  afterward  satisfied  on  his  farm,  and  made  but  little 
effort  toward  any  further  improvement  of  his  land  while 
he  lived  upon  it.  His  skill  in  carpentering  brought  his 
2 


10  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

services  into  demand  in  the  rapidly-growing  settlement, 
and  most  of  his  time  was  spent  in  this  way  until  the  year 
1837,  when  he  traded  his  land  for  an  interest  in  a  saw 
and  grist-mill  on  Deer  Creek.  His  partner  was  his 
uncle,  Calvin  Franklin.  Going  into  milling  just  as  the 
dreadful  financial  distress  of  those  years  fell  upon  the 
country,  he  met  with  nothing  but  discouragement  in  bus- 
iness.    The  mill  property  was  sold  in  1840. 

The  habits  above  described  continued  with  him  for 
some  time  after  his  marriage.  He  took  no  interest  in  re- 
ligion at  all.  His  profanity  continued .  His  immense 
vitality  overflowed  in  all  sorts  of  boyish  performances. 
On  one  occasion, — several  months  after  he  had  been  mar- 
ried,— he  had  been  out  somewhere  and  was  returming, 
accompanied  by  one  or  two  of  his  brothers  and  another 
young  man.  They  crossed  an  open  field  toward  the  house. 
His  wife  saw  them  coming  across  the  field,  blundering 
and  staggering  to  the  right  and  left,  and  her  heart  sank 
within  her.  Her  husband,  to  whom  she  had  given  her 
heart,  and  in  whose  hands  she  had  risked  her  happiness 
in  this  life,  was  staggering  home  drunk  !  It  was  not  like 
him.  He  had  not  been  in  the  habit  of  drinking;  but 
they  were  all  intoxicated.  Nothing  else  could  make  them 
act  that  way,  so  she  thought.  Presently  they  reached 
the  fence,  nearly  at  the  same  time,  but  several  rods  apart. 
Then  they  all  indulged  in  a  loud  laugh.  They  had 
been  trying  to  walk  across  the  field  with  their  eyes  shut! 
The  wife  was  vexed.  Could  it  be  possible  that  her  hus- 
band would  be  always  a  great  boy?  Was  he  never  to 
have  any  dignity  ? 

We  have  now  followed  Benjamin  Franklin  through  his 
youth  and  up  to  the  time  when  a  mighty  revolution 
in  his  life  took  place ;  to  the  time  of  the  career  in 
which  the  reader  will  be  most  interested. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  11 

In  tracing  the  history  of  any  distinguished  man,  natural 
causes  are  usually  sought  for  as  forces  developing  his 
greatness.  We  can  only  speak  of  two  or  three  such 
things,  and  of  these,  not  so  much  as  causes  as  agencies  of 
the  Providence  of  God.  He,  who  raises  up  one  man  and 
casts  down  another  to  carry  out  his  purposes,  may  employ 
agencies  which  the  philosopher  would  call  natural  causes  ; 
but  still  the  hand  of  God  is  id  it  all  the  same.  These 
are  some  influences  known  to  have  contributed  to  make 
Benjamin  Franklin  what  he  was  : 

1st.  A  preference  for  what  is  directly  practical  in  the 
affairs  of  mankind  has  always  been  a  family  trait.  The 
whole  life  of  Dr.  Franklin  discovers  this  trait.  He  was 
not  a  speculative  but  an  experimental  philosopher.  Asa 
statesman,  he  did  not  submit  theories  of  government,  but 
was  always  ready  to  say  what  the  present  legislative  and 
executive  officers  ought  to  cZo,  and  also  why  they  ought 
to  do  it.  Poor  Richard's  maxims  are  none  the  less  bril- 
liant because  they  are  homely — they  abound  in  wisdom 
applied  to  the  the  commonplace  matter  of  earning  a  liv- 
ing and  enjoying  it.  Joseph  Franklin,  in  the  third  genera- 
tion below  the  philosopher,  was  a  man  of  comprehensive 
intellect ;  but  his  wisdom  and  skill  were  given  to  the  affairs 
of  everyday  life.  Among  needy  pioneers  he  made  tables 
and  chairs,  turning  the  rungs  in  his  own  lathe.  He 
tanned  leather  and  made  shoes.  He  ground  his  own  and 
his  neighbors'  flour  and  meal.  He  scored  and  hewed  logs 
and  "puncheons,"  rived  "clap-boards,"  for  his  own  and 
his  neighbors'  houses  and  barns.  He  cleared  away  the  for- 
rest  and  tilled  the  land  where  it  had  stood.  In  a  genera- 
tion which  did  not  call  in  question  the  habitual  use  of 
alcoholic  and  narcotic  stimulants,  he  saw  the  expense,  the 
filth,  and  the  dissipation  in  both,  and  so  engrafted  his 


12  the  life  and  times  of 

sentiments  on  the  minds  of  his  sons,  that,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  who  chewed  tobacco  moderately,  all  followed 
the  example  of  their  temperate  father.  And  finally,  in 
religion,  when  he  heard  preaching  that  in  all  its  discoursing 
bore  directly  on  the  character  of  man,  his  judgment  at 
once  approved  it  as  superior  to  that  speculative  theology 
in  which  he  never  was  fully  interested.  The  Franklin 
family  did  not  speculate  in  commerce,  in  philosophy,  nor 
in  religion. 

2d.  The  circumstances  of  his  early  youth  tended  to 
develop  him  in  the  highest  possible  degree.  The  habits  of 
the  people  of  the  West  in  that  generation  were  exceed- 
ingly simple.  They  lived  in  a  wilderness,  were  poor, 
and  lived  upon  the  simplest  and  most  wholesome  food. 
Their  houses  were  thoroughly  ventilated  because  they 
were  unable  to  build  them  so  well  as  to  exclude  the  pure 
air.  They  were  compelled  by  their  every-day  necessities 
to  take  abundance  of  open-air  exercise.  Living  so  plain- 
ly, and  working  hard  have  ever  been  felt  to  be  great 
disadvantages.  The  people  therefore  studied  intently 
how  they  might  better  their  situation.  "  Necessity  is  the 
mother  of  invention. "  The  necessities  of  the  people  not 
only  required  physical  but  intellectual  activity.  In  this 
way  the  circumstances  of  his  early  life  combined  to  de- 
velop in  Benjamin  Franklin  a  robust  intellectual  and 
physical  manhood.  We  cannot,  however, — as  most  biog- 
raphers have  a  penchant  for  doing, — trace  our  hero 
through  his  youth  as  a  young  Saul,  always  in  his  sports 
and  exercises,  "  from  his  shoulders  and  upwards  higher 
than  any  of  the  people.' '  Thousands  of  young  men,  his 
contemporaries,  went  through  the  same  complete  drill  and 
preparation,  who  were  never  widely  known,  because  their 
immense  intellectual   and   physical   vigor  were  expended 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  13 

upon  their  own  private  affairs.  This  country  has  devel- 
oped thousands  of  great  men  who  were  not  distinguished 
men  because  their  great  powers  were  not  exhibited  in 
public  life. 

3d.  The  religious  and  moral   character  of  his    parents 
had  a  great  influence  upon  him.     Mention  has  been  made 
of  his  father's  advanced   views  as  to  the  use  of  alcoholic 
drinks  and  tobacco,  and  the  impression  he  made  on  his 
sons   in   this    respect.     In   religion  the   influence  of  his 
mother  was  joined  to  that  of  his  father,  and  was,  per- 
haps,   even    greater.     They    were  a  man  and  woman  of 
profound  faith.      They  lived   and  walked  by  faith,  and 
so  constant  and  consistent  were  they   in  their   religious 
devotions,   that  all    their    children,    after    the    years    of 
their    youthful    waywardness    had   passed,  were    led   to 
become  and  to  live  devout  Christians.      This   trait  was 
stronger  in  his  mother.      It   does    not   appear   that    his 
father  ever    wavered    in    his    faith,  but    he    sometimes 
wearied  in  his  acts  of  devotion.      He  had  fits  of  despon- 
dency, produced  most  likely   by  a  physical  infirmity,  and 
these   possessed    him   so   that   he  could    not  sufficiently 
command  himself  while  they  were    upon  him  to  read  the 
Bible,  and  pray  with  his  family.     On  these  occasions  the 
moral  courage  of  his  wife  showed  itself.     At  his  request 
she  would  lead  in  the  family  devotions  until  he  had  "  got 
out  of  the  Slough  of  Despond. "     In  the  same  way,  and 
for  the  same  reason,  he  sometimes  slackened  his  forces  in 
the  control  of  their  children.     She  never  did.     She  was 
buoyant  and  hopeful,  full  of  courage  and  determination, 
and  persistently  followed  up  their  waywardness  and  short- 
comings.    On  one  Sunday  morning,  Benjamin  had  been 
dressed  for  the  day  in  his  clean  clothes.     It  was  a  warm 
morning  after  a  rain.     The  boys  had  constructed  a  min- 


14  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES   OF 

iature  water-wheel  and  put  it  into  a  stream  which  ran 
near  the  house.  Benjamin  went  to  the  stream  and  was 
amusing  himself  with  his  "  mill.  "  His  mother  saw  him, 
and  commanded  him  to  leave  the  water,  threatening  to 
whip  him  if  she  caught  him  there  again.  He  went  away? 
but  soon  yielded  to  the  temptation  and  went  again  to  the 
water-wheel.  His  mother  saw  him,  and  in  a  moment  was 
coming  down  to  him  with  a  switch  in  her  hand.  When 
he  chanced  to  look  up  and  saw  her  coming,  he  yielded  to 
an  unusual  impulse,  and,  for  the  tirst  time  in  his  life, 
started  to  run  away  from  his  mother.  She  called  to  him 
to  stop,  but  still  he  ran  on,  glancing  over  his  shoulder 
occasionally  to  see  if  she  was  gaining  on  him.  Presently 
she  slipped  and  fell  at  full  length  in  the  mud.  His  heart 
relented  at  seeing  her  fall,  and  he  stopped.  In  later  years 
when  he  was  able  to  bring  a  man's  judgment  to  bear 
upon  the  case,-  he  often  told  the  circumstance  to  show 
how  he  always  came  off  second-best  in  any  contest  with 
his  mother.  She  was  not  angered  by  his  running  from 
her,  but  spoke  calmly  of  his  disobediance,  pointed  to  his 
soiled  clothes  as  the  reason  why  she  forbade  him  to  go 
into  the  water,  and  then  deliberately  punished  him  as  she 
thought  he  deserved  to  be  punished. 

We  have  before  us,  therefore,  a  man  developed  phys- 
ically and  intellectually  in  a  very  high  degree,  and  in- 
heriting an  intensely  practical  bent  of  mind  and  a  sus- 
ceptibility of  the  strongest  convictions  of  right  and 
wrong.  The  truth  of  the  Bible  is  impressed  on  his  mind 
and  he  only  needs  the  awakening  to  a  sense  of  sinfulness, 
and  instruction  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible.  The 
awakening  and  the  instruction  came  in  due  time.  His 
soul  grasped  the  truth,  and,  enlightened  by  it,  he  was  at 
once  filled  with  an  unconquerable  zeal  to  proclaim  it  to 
others. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  15 

When  and  by  whom  this  instruction  came  will  soon  be 
related.  But  we  must  first  call  the  attention  of  the  read- 
er to  some  matters  without  a  knowledge  of  which  it  is 
believed  the  career  of  Benjamin  Franklin  will  not  be  un- 
derstood. 


CHAPTER  II. 

¥HE  history  of  a  politician  can  not  be  separated  from 
the  state  of  his  country  and  the  current  events  of  his 
time.  So  it  is  with  a  religious  teacher.  We  can- 
not see  the  bearing  of  his  work,  much  less  can  we  under- 
stand the  promptings  of  his  heart,  unless  we  know  the 
state  of  religion  and  the  characteristics  of  the  religious 
society  in  which  he  operated.  It  is  necessary,  in  the 
present  instance,  to  glance  at  the  surroundings  of  Benja- 
min Franklin  at  the  time  he  entered  into  public  life.  In 
doing  so  we  shall  presume  somewhat  upon  the  intelligence 
of  the  reader  and  give  but  a  mere  outline. 

At  this  time,  and  especially  in  this  part  of  the  country, 
the  prominent  matters  of  discussion  among  religious  peo- 
ple, were  the  following : 

1st.  The  nature  and  the  process  of  conversion.  The 
great  body  of  religious  people  regarded  sin  as  "  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  nature  of  every  man,  that  naturally  is  en- 
gendered of  the  offspring  of  Adam,  whereby  man  is  very 
far  gone  from  original  righteousness,  and  of  his  own  na- 
ture inclined  to  evil,  and  that  continually."  In  such  a 
condition,  naturally,  man  was  held  to  be  incapable  of  do- 
ing anything  good.  He  could  not  believe  or  obey  the 
gospel— indeed  he  was  not  inclined  to  try  to  do  so.  The 
only  motion  towards  righteousness  which  was  admitted  to 
be  possible  to  a  sinner,  was  to  beseech  God  to  have  mercy 
on  him.  The  true  Calvinist  did  not  admit  even  so  much 
as  this.  The  "  total  hereditary  depravity  "  of  man,  "  in 
all  the  faculties  and  parts,  both  of  the  soul  and  of  the 
body,"  he  held  without  explanation  or  qualification,  and 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  17 

almost  with  as  much  tenacity  as  if  God  had  really  foreor- 
dained that  he  should  believe  it.  Such  a  man  never  pre- 
sumed to  preach  to  the  world.  When  the  Lord  called 
him  anywhere  to  preach,  He  called  some  of  His  people 
there  to  hear,  and  helped  them  to  understand  it.  When 
a  sinner  was  te  be  converted,  it  was  in  the  first  place  one 
of  God's  elect,  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  and  then  the  power  sent  to  convert  him  was 
an  "  irresistible  grace,"  which,  indeed,  did  not  ahvays 
speedily,  but  always  most  surely,  convert  him,  and  then 
remain  with  him,  so  that  he  was  sure  to  continue  in  the 
faith  and  be  saved.  The  more  popular  form  of  belief  (or 
of  speculative  theory  rather),  was  that  the  sinner  could 
resist  the  Spirit  until  it  would  flee  from  him,  or  seek 
after  it  until  it  would  come  to  him  with  converting  power. 
But  that  the  real  converting  power  was  the  Holy  Spirit, 
personally  present,  and  operating  directly  on  the  facul- 
ties of  man,  purifying  him  of  this  inherent  tendency  to 
sin,  and  saving  him  by  giving  him  saving  faith,  was  held 
in  common  by  both  these  parties.  They  therefore  regarded 
each  other  as  "  orthodox.' '  But  the  Disciples  (or  "Camp- 
bcllites,"  as  those  opposed  to  them  most  persistently 
nicknamed  them),  denied  that  there  is  any  such  ungov- 
ernable tendency  to  sin  in  human  nature.  It  was,  indeed, 
admitted  that  man's  faculties  are  greatly  clouded  and  in- 
fluenced by  sinful  surroundings,  but  claimed  that  he  may 
hear  with  the  ear,  understand  with  the  heart,  turn  from 
sin,  and  be  saved,  and  that  this  is  essentially  the  process 
of  conversion.  This  was  a  radical  and  irreconcilable  dif- 
ference. As  soon  as  Alexander  Campbell  and  those  asso- 
ciated with  him  began  their  work  and  began  to  teach  the 
people  that  man's  faith  (or  belief  of  the  truth)  and  obe- 
dience to  the  gospel  are  the  ground  of  acceptance  with 


18  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

God,  they  were  cried  down  as  "  heterodox.' f  They  did 
not  "  believe  in  the  operation  of  the  "  Holy  Ghost." 
They  repudiated  "  Holy  Ghost"  religion.  They  knew 
nothing  of  "  heart-felt  religion,"  and  taught  only  a  "head 
religion."  They  had  "no  experimental  knowledge  of 
the  power  of  God  to  forgive  sins,"  and  had  nothing  but 
"  a  mere  historic  faith,"  which  was  only  M  the  motion  of 
the  carnal  mind."  A  distinguished  Baptist  of  Kentucky 
refused  to  enter  into  a  discussion  with  Alexander  Camp_ 
bell  on  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  conversion,  because, 
as  he  averred,  M  Mr.  Campbell  had  never  had  an  experi- 
ence of  the  work  of  grace  in  the  soul,  and  consequently 
could  know  nothing  about  it."  Presbyterians,  Methodists 
and  Baptists  made  common  cause  against  the  Reformers. 
They  might  be  biting  and  devouring  one  another  at  a  fear- 
ful rate,  but  let  a  "  Campbellite "  make  his  appearance 
in  the  neighborhood  and  all  was  harmony  among  them  at 
once — all  the  "  orthodox  churches  "  were  instantly  a  unit 
against  the  heretic, 

Alexander  Campbell  once  very  truly  wrote,  in  the  Mil- 
lenial  Harbinger,  that,  "The  first,  middle  and  last  course, 
of  .the  banquet  to  which  the  sectarian  world  invite  us,  is 
an  immediate  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners  and  the  perseverance  of  saints."  When 
an  orthodox  church  undertook  to  have  a  revival,  they  met 
together  and  began  to  entreat  the  "  Holy  Spirit. to  "come 
down  with  converting  power  and  save  sinners."  God  was 
reminded  that  He  "  had  promised  to  convert  seeking, 
mourning  sinners,"  that  such  were  there  and  then  before 
Him,  waiting  for  Him  to  "verify  His  promise."  Illiterate 
people  went  wild  with  excitement  in  these  meetings. 
Within  seven  miles  of  where  we  now  write,  a  rude  and 
ignorant  people  about  twenty  years  ago  were  holding  a 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  19 

meeting  in  a  school  house.  The  excitement  had  run  very 
high,  the  air  of  the  illy-ventilated  room  had  been  poison- 
ed with  noxious  gases,  and  they  were  shouting,  singing, 
praying,  and  exhorting,  all  at  the  same  time,  when  some 
one  shrieked  out :  "  The  devil  is  in  the  house  ;  let's  drive 
him  out."  The  conceit  suited  the  humor  of  the  crowd, 
and  they  at  once  began  a  chase  round  and  round  the  room, 
hooting  and  yelling  as  if  themselves  had  belonged  to  the 
infernal  regions.  Presently  one  shouted  loud  enough  to 
be  heard  above  the  din :  "  Here  he  goes,  out  through  the 
door  !  "  Out  went  the  crowd,  headlong,  pell-mell,  push- 
ing, jamming  and  hurrahing,  as  senseless  as  people  could 
be.  "  There  he  goes,  into  the  pond,"  cried  the  same  lead- 
ing voice.  The  multitude  followed  on,  and,  surrounding 
the  pond,  they  continued  to  halloo  and  throw  sticks,  until, 
the  open  air  beginning  to  cool  down  their  blood  and  relieve 
their  heated  imaginations,  some,  less  excitable  than  the 
rest,  fell  back,  the  excitement  began  to  die  away,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  longer  time  the  whole  congregation,  si- 
lently, and  half  ashamed  of  themselves,  retired  to  their 
homes.  In  more  cultivated  communities  the  excitement 
was  held  within  more  reasonable  limits,  though  the  memo- 
ries of  our  readers  will  doubtless  recall  scenes  of  as  wild 
excitement  as  that  just  described,  enacted  in  the  name  of 
**  heart-felt  religion."  A  congregation  of  staid,  Old- 
School  Presbyterians,  or  intelligent  Baptists,  would  never 
get  into  confusion  at  all ;  but  they,  nevertheless,  held 
convicted  sinners  in  expectancy  of  a  direct  converting 
power,  working  in  them  an  instantaneous  and  "  sensible " 
change. 

The  pioneers  of  the  Reformation  have  for  many  years 
lamented  what  they  regarded  as  a  yielding  of  the  funda- 
mental   truth   on    this   subject,   in  the    semi-fraternity 


20  THE   LIFE   AND  TIMES   OF 

acknowledged  in  exchange  of  pulpits,  union  communions, 
and  other  ways  of  recognizing  "the  sects."  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  manifest  that  the  theory  of  direct  spiritual 
influence  is  rapidly  losing  its  hold  on  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple. There  is  a  vast  difference  between  Mr.  Moody's 
procedure  and  the  old-time  revival ;  although  he  still 
teaches  sinners  to  expect  an  internal  mystic  influence, 
which  it  pleases  him  to  call  "  salvation." 

2d.  Denominationalism,  or  Churchism.  The  religious 
community  were  divided  in  their  views  of  church  polity 
and  organization  into  Baptists,  Episcopalians,  Presbyteri- 
and  Congregationalists.  These  different  views  became 
the  basis  of  different  church,  or  denominational  organiza- 
tions. There  were  the  Episcopal  church  and  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  church  ;  there  were  Old  School,  New  School 
Cumberland,  and  Reformed  Presbyterians  ;  there  was  the 
Papal,  calling  itself  the  Holy  Catholic  church  ;  and  there 
was  a  large  connection  of  churches  called  Congregational 
churches.  Differing  on  various  doctrinal  subjects,  there 
were  four  or  five  kinds  of  Baptist  churches,  and  as  many 
kinds  of  Methodist  churches.  There  was  a  connection  of 
Unitarian  churches,  and  a  Universalist  church. 

Closely  connected  with  this  question  of  sectism  was  that 
of  Human  Creeds  as  the  basis  of  Church  Organiza- 
tion. The  subject  was  often  discussed  as  a  leading  one. 
Most  of  the  denominations  had  a  "  Confession  of  Faith  " 
with  its  Doctrine,  Discipline  and  Catechism,  or  "  Disci- 
pline" with  its  Articles  of  Religion  and  Rules  of  the 
Church,  or  "Articles  of  Association,"  setting  forth  the 
points  of  doctrine  and  discipline  on  which  a  connection 
of  churches  maintained  one  fellowship.  And  it  was 
strenously  argued  that  they  were  a  necessity.  When  the 
Disciples   made  war  ou  these  creeds  it  was  claimed  that 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  21 

they  had  one  "  in  the  head  if  not  in  a  book,"  and  finally 
suggested  that  one  of  Alexander  Campbell's  books  was 
secretly  used  as  a  Creed. 

In  this  state  of  religions  society  the  Reformation  came 
on,  assuming  at  the  outset,  what  was  scarcely  denied, 
that  the  Bible  must  be  regarded  iu  all  things.  "Where 
the  Bible  speaks  we  speak,  and  where  the  Bible  is  silent 
we  are  silent. "  The  fearless  application  of  this  rule, 
laid  the  axe  at  the  root  of  all  denominations.  The  Bible 
is  silent  as  to  a  Methodist  church,  a  Baptist  church,  an 
Episcopal  church,  or  a  Presbyterian  church,  etc.  These 
organizations  are,  therefore,  simply  without  authority. 
They  cannot  prove  their  right  to  an  existence  by  the  Bible, 
and,  therefore,  they  have  no  right  to  an  existence.  The 
names  Methodist,  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  etc.,  are  names 
not  known  in  the  Bible.  It  is,  therefore,  wrong  to  wear 
them.  The  Bible  is  silent  as  to  Conferences,  Presbyteries, 
Synods,  Convocations,  General  Assemblies,  Associations, 
etc.  These  are  all,  therefore,  unauthorized  institutions, 
and  all  their  laws  and  ordinances  are  void.  But  these 
ecclesiastical  councils,  party  organizations  and  denomina- 
tional epithets,  are  the  essential  features  of  "  Sectarian- 
ism.* *  To  give  up  these  things  would  be  to  abandon  "  the 
church  of  their  fathers,"  and  "  the  church  of  their  choice." 
This  was  asking  too  much  for  the  sake  of  Christian  union, 
and  they  would  defend  their  denominations. 

The  Reformation,  however,  was  not  a  mere  negative. 
If  it  discarded  the  name  Presbyterian,  it  besought  the 
pious  Presbyterian  to  call  himself  simply  a  Christian.  If 
it  threw  away  the  name  of  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
it  besought  the  members  thereof  to  worship  in  a  congre- 
gation of  disciples  of  Christ,  on  the  Lord's  day,  in  the 
apostles'  doctrine,  in  fellowship,  in  breaking  of  bread, 


22  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

and  ill  prayers.  If  it  discarded  the  administration  of  a 
Synod,  it  substituted  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
the  congregation  of  Christians  by  the  overseers  and  dea- 
cons. If  it  asked  professed  Christians  to  lay  aside  their 
human  creeds,  it  entreated  them  to  accept  the  Bible  as 
"  the  only  and  all-sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice." 

3d.  Among  these  sects,  the  Baptists  had  assumed  a 
prominence  that  gave  rise  to  an  extended  discussion  of 
Baptism.  Most  of  the  self-yclept  orthodox  churches,  held 
to  an  infant  church  membership,  with  the  initiatory  rite  of 
infant  sprinkling.  This  had  come  from  the  Papal  to  the 
Anglican  and  Scottish  Churches,  and  thence  to  these 
younger  Protestant  sects,  without  question  of  its  authority 
or  validity.  When,  therefore,  the  Baptists  rose  up  and 
spread  all  over  the  country,  denying  that  sprinkling  is 
baptism  at  all,  and  denying  that  any  but  believers  are 
scriptural  subjects  of  baptism,  Pedo-Baptists  were  greatly 
alarmed,  and  began  to  hunt  for  scriptural  authority  for 
sprinkling  infants.  In  the  absence  of  authority,  they 
seemed  to  grow  more  determined  than  ever  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  practice,  and  began  to  invent  reasons  why 
it  should  obtain.  Tnis  discussion  was  still  in  full  blast 
when  the  Reformation  began  and  "  baptism  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,"  was  proclaimed.  The  storm  of  discussion 
which  had  raged  on  the  "  subject"  and  "  action"  of  bap- 
tism, increased  to  a  hurricane,  when  a  new  party  arose 
and  began  to  emphasize  on  the  commission  of  the  Apos- 
tles, in  which  Jesus  says:  "  He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptised  shall  be  saved,"  on  Peter's  apostolic  command 
on  Pentecost,  "  Repent,  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  you, 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  \ 
and  on  the  command  of  Ananias  to  Saul,  "  Arise  and  be 
baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  23 

the  Lord."  This  teaching  on  the  "  design"  of  baptism 
enraged  the  Pedo-Baptists  more  than  their  difference  from 
the  Baptists  on  the  *'  subject' '  and  "  action"  of  baptism. 
On  the  design  of  baptism,  Baptists  and  Pedo-Baptists 
made  common  cause  against  the  Disciples.  Baptism  for 
the  remission  of  sins  was  stigmatized  as  "  water  salva- 
tion," a  "  gospel  in  the  water, "  "water  regeneration, '* 
etc.  Every  possible  means,  often  regardless  of  Christian 
dignity  or  truthfulness,  was  resorted  to,  to  bring  the 
"heresy"  into  ridicule.  The  Disciples  were  stigmatized 
as  "  water-dogs,"  and  the  churches  of  Christ  as  "hydrau- 
lic churches."  The  extreme  of  vituperation  and  abuse 
to  which  their  opponents  resorted,  accounts  for  the  dis- 
position of  the  pioneer  reformers.  One  Milton  Jamieson 
wrote  a  "  Treatise  on  the  Subject  of  Baptism  ;  principally 
designed  as  an  Exposure  of  Campbellism."  An  instance 
or  two  from  this  will  show  what  manner  of  spirit  was 
sometimes  manifested  by  men  who  professed  to  have  "  an 
experimental  knowledge  of  the  power  of  God.''  In  his 
"  treatise,"  Mr.  Jamieson  wrote  :  "  Frogs  are  a  race  of 
reptiles  that  can  only  be  produced  under  water ;  Camp- 
bellites  can  only  be  produced  in  the  same  way,  and  that 
by  their  own  showing.  In  this,  then,  they  are  like  frogs." 
From  this  the  author  glides  into  the  Apocalypse  and  makes 
application  of  the  "three  unclean  spirits  like  frogs"  to 
"  Campbellites."  This  dignified  (?)  treatise  closed  with 
the  following  lines  of  doggerel : 

"  Move  along,  my  subjects  hearty, 
Blaming  every  sect  and  party ; 
Crushing  creeds,  opinions,  isms, 
Bringing  in  Millennial  glory, — 
Move  along,  for  I'm  before  you ; 
Free  yourselves  from  every  tramel, 
Follow  nothing  but A  Camel.1* 


24  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES  OP 

4th.  Universalism  had  attracted  considerable  attentiott 
throughout  the  West.  It  had  its  own  affirmation  that 
"  the  whole  human  family  tviil  be  made  holy  and  happy," 
and  three  negations,  viz. :  There  is  no  hell,  no  devil, 
and  no  future  punishment.  As  a  system  (if  it  may  be  so 
called),  it  had  two  things  to  commend  it  and  render  it 
more  or  less  popular,  in  a  majority  of  western  localities. 
In  the  first  place,  it  was  a  natural  rebound  from  Calvin- 
ism. A  theory  which  would  mercilessly  consign  the  lar- 
ger part  of  humanity  to  endless  punishment,  without  a 
chance  of  salvation,  could  not  long  hold  the  public 
mind.  In  the  first  effort  to  escape  from  this  doctrine,  a 
large  number  at  first  held  on  to  the  idea  that  God  had  de- 
creed the  salvation  of  all  for  whom  Christ  died,  but  en- 
larged their  belief  as  to  the  number  for  whom  Christ 
died,  so  as  to  include  the  whole  race.  Christ  died  for  all 
and  therefore  all  will  be  saved,  was  the  short  argument. 
It  seems,  on  a  superficial  view,  to  be  a  charitable  and  lib- 
eral theory ;  and,  indeed,  Universalists  after  they  had 
gained  some  standing,  assumed  the  designation  of  "  Lib- 
eral Christians" — not  as  a  denominational  epithet,  but 
that  they  were  a  denomination  of  "  Liberal  Christians.' ' 
And,  in  the  second  place,  Universalism  commended  itself 
to  a  chiss  of  people  who  are  impatient  of  the  restraints 
of  the  Gospel.  It  suited  their  cases,  and  was,  therefore, 
the  religion  of  their  choice,  in  so  far  as  they  chose  any 
religion  at  all.  If  "brother"  Kidwell  or  "brother" 
Manford  came  along  to  preach  a  chance  sermon  in  some 
court-house,  the  irreligious  people  were  sure  to  be  no  in- 
considerable part  of  the  audience,  and  felt  profoundly 
gratified  if  the  preacher  made  a  fluent  speech  against  the 
"  orthodox. "  It  is  related  that  on  one  occasion  Jona- 
than Kidwell,  usually  a  fluent  speaker,  was  speaking  in  a 
grove,  and  arguing  that  there  is  no  such  place  as  hell. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  25 

Affected  by  some  local  embarrassment,  he  stammered  a 
little,  and  several  times  hesitated,  until  a  drunken  man, 
leaning  against  a  tree,  and  imagining  that  the  hesitation 
of  the  speaker  was  for  want  of  argument,  cried  out: 
"  Make  it  out  if  you  can,  brother  Johnathan ;  for  if  you 
don't  I'm  a  gone  sucker !" 

To  recapitulate  :  Thej^bjects  most  prominently  before 
the  minds  of  the  people,  when  Benjamin  Franklin  began 
to  take  a  prominent  part  in  religious  affairs  were  :  The 
Nature  and  Process  of  Conversion,  Denominationalism, 
Baptism  and  Universalism.  Within  a  few  years,  several 
subjects  of  disagreement  among  the  brethren  came  up  (of 
which  a  resume  will  elsewhere  be  given)  and  received  the 
larger  share  of  attention  from  his  tongue  and  pen.  But 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  years  these  continued  to  be  most 
prominent,  and  gave  shape  and  tone  to  all  his  work. 

And  it  should  be  farther  noted  that  the  circumstances 
which  brought  these  subjects  to  the  front  were  such  that 
every  man  who  spoke  or  wrote  on  either  of  them,  neces- 
sarily assumed  a  controversial  tone.  On  one  side  was  a 
party  holding  these  things  as  dear  as  life,  and  determined 
to  hold  them  at  all  hazards ;  and  on  the  other  side  was  a 
party  who  believed  them  to  be  heresies,  and  were,  there- 
fore, as  determined  to  drive  them  out  of  the  minds  of 
the  people. 

If  it  be  urged  that  the  general  prevalence  of  controversy 
made  many  men  of  that  generation  intolerant  and  pugna- 
cious, it  is  suggested  in  reply,  that  there  is  another  ex- 
treme quite  as  dangerous,  at  least,  to  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  and  the  increase  of  righteousness.  So  long  as  men 
keep  within  the  limits  of  common  courtesy  and  good  de- 
corum, it  is  hard  to  conceive  of  an  extreme  of  urgency 
in  the  presentation  of  the  truth.  Indecorous  language,  or 
personal  abuse,  were  never  right  under  any  circumstances. 


26  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES   OF   FRANKLIN. 

But  we  deny  that  these  were  characteristic  of  the  pion- 
eers of  the  Eeformation.  And  we  greatly  fear  that  this 
complaint  against  onr  older  preachers  comes  from  a  class 
who  are  scarcely  willing  to  have  the  principles  of  the  Ref- 
ormation boldly  presented,  under  any  circumstances.  We, 
of  this  generation,  may  be  inclined  to  surrender  the  truth 
rather  than  to  defend  it.  Christians  are  to  "contend 
earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  to 
"put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God,"  and  "wrestle,  not 
against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  principalities,  against 
powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world, 
against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places,"  to  "  fight  the 
good  fight  of  faith," — all  which  expressions  indicate  a 
state  of  war.  In  avoiding  what  we  choose  to  call  the  ex- 
treme pugnacity  of  the  pioneer  preachers,  we  should  be 
exceedingly  careful  not  to  run  into  the  opposite  extreme, 
illustrated  in  the  following  incident :  A  preacher,  in  a 
community  where  he  had  never  been  before,  was  soon 
warned  not  to  say  anything  against  the  other  churches,  as 
there  would  be  many  of  their  members  out  on  that  day. 
On  the  way  to  the  meeting-house  it  was  suggested  to  him 
that  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  say  anything  in  regard 
to  the  liquor  traffic,  as  a  certain  dealer,  who  always 
subscribed  liberally  to  the  church,  would  be  there.  After 
entering  the  pulpit,  a  brother  went  up  and  whispered  in 
his  ear  not  to  make  any  attack  on  infidelity,  as  there  were 
several  infidels  present,  and  it  was  hoped  that  they  would 
subscribe  liberally  for  the  preaching  that  year.  Beginning 
to  feel  himself  fenced  up  within  narrow  limits,  the  preacher 
said :  "  Well,  pray  tell  me  what  I  shall  preach  about, 
then?"  The  answer  came  promptly:  "Why,  preach 
against  the  Jews  ;  I  don't  think  they  have  a  friend  in  this 
town." 

But  we  must  get  on  with  our  history. 


CHAPTER  III. 

'pHE  Reformation  in  the  West  was  somewhat  differ- 
-J~  ent  from  that  of  Eastern  Ohio  and  Western  Virginia 
and  that  of  Central  Kentucky.  It  was  in  some  degree 
a  compound  of  the  two.  There  ran  forth  from  the  hills  of 
Brooke  county,  Virginia,  a  stream  of  very  pure  and 
living  water,  which  flowed  to  the  westward  with  a  very 
steady,  gentle,  and  gradually  increasing  flood.  There 
came  up  from  the  South  another  stream,  not  quite  so 
clear  and  pure,  but  with  a  more  impetuous  current  and  a 
much  more  rapidly  increasing  flood,  which  flowed  North- 
ward until  the  two  united  and  formed  a  grand  river  of  the 
water  of  life.  This  enlarged  stream  we  call  the  Reforma- 
ation  in  the  West. 

The  Campbells  were  at  first  so  sanguine  as  to  suppose  that 
their  plea  would  only  need  to  be  presented  in  order  to 
be  accepted  by  all  religious  people.  Especially  did  they 
expect  ail  Baptists  to  fall  in  with  it  at  once.  So  different 
from  this  was  the  fact,  that  in  a  short  time  they  settled  down 
in  the  Mahoning  Association  to  edify  the  Disciples  of  that 
Association  as  best  they  could,  and  scarcely  made  any  effort 
to  proselyte  or  even  to  carry  their  views  beyond  these 
narrow  limits.  But  such  a  light  could  not  be  hid  under  a 
bushel.  By  a  circumstance  trivial  in  itself,  but  such  a 
circumstance  as  in  the  providence  of  God  is  usually  made 
to  brinsr  about  grand  results,  the  churches  of  the  Mahon- 
ing  Association  were  transformed  in  a  few  months  and  filled 
with  a  great  zeal  to  evangelize  the  world.  The  church  at 
Braceville,  one  of  the  churches  of  the  Association,  sent  up 
the  following  request :  f*  We  wish  that  the  Association  may 


28  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

take  into  serious  consideration  the  peculiar  situation  of 
the  churches  of  this  Association,  and  if  it  would  be  a  possible 
thing  for  an  evangelical  preacher  to  be  employed  to  travel 
and  teach  among  the  churches,  we  think  that  a  blessing 
would  follow."  Walter  Scott  was  chosen  in  accordance  with 
this  request.  The  proceeding  was  a  new  thing  in  a  Baptist 
Association,  and  seemed  to  need  some  sort  of  defence.  It 
was  therefore  voted  at  the  same  meeting,  "  that  a  circular 
letter  be  written  on  the  subject  of  itinerant  preaching,  for 
next  Association,  by  A.  Campbell. *  This  was  in  the  latter 
part  of  August,  1827,  and  was  the  dawning  of  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  the  Reformation.  Still  under  the  deadening 
influence  of  Calvinism,  the  churches  had  not,  up  to  this 
time,  awakened  to  the  importance  of  evangelistic  efforts. 

But  this  was  the  day  of  their  awakening,  and  Walter 
Scott  was,  by  the  same  Providence,  the  very  person  to 
begin  the  work.  Of  this  remarkable  man  and  of  his  fitness 
for  this  especial  work,  Dr.  Richardson  writes  as  follows  : 

"He  was  then  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  life,  being  nearly 
thirty-one  years  of  age,  having  been  born  in  December, 
1796,  in  the  town  of  Moffat,  Scotland,  and  his  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  before  him  had  been  ample.  Educated 
at  the  University  of  Edinburg,  he  had  largely  added  to 
his  literary  acquirements  by  assiduous  devotion  to  study 
and  self-culture  while  engaged  in  teaching  during  the  ten 
years  preceding  his  appointment  as  evangelist.  Much  more 
had  he  accumulated  vast  stores  of  accurate  Scripture  know- 
ledge and  enlarged  religious  observations  and  experience. 
His  memory  was  thoroughly  furnished  with  the  word  of 
God  ;  his  faith  and  love  had  culminated  in  an  affectionate 
personal  attachment  to  the  Redeemer,  who  was  ever  pres- 
ent to  his  thoughts  ;  and  his  imagination  had  been  fired  by 
the  glorious  hopes  and  promises  of  the  Gospel,  which  he 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN*  29 

ardently  longed  to  see  triumphant,  in  its  primitive  purity, 
over  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  time.  Having  an 
agreeable  musical  voice  and  graceful  manner,  a  lively 
fancy,  replete  with  classical  and  sacred  imagery,  and 
abounding  in  striking  illustrations,  he  possessed  many  of 
the  qualities  of  the  successful  orator.  At  the  same  time, 
his  genius  for  analysis  and  classification,  and  his  thorough 
insight  into  the  nature  of  the  Christian  institution,  enabled 
him  to  present  its  great  and  stirring  truths  with  a  force  and 
clearness  seldom  equaled. "  * 

Mr.  Scott  went  abroad  on  his  mission.  The  Reformers 
had  written  and  spoken  somewhat  on  the  subject  of  bap- 
tism for  the  remission  of  sins,  but  they  had  never  put  such 
instruction  into  its  place  practically.  The  "mourner's 
bench"  of  the  Methodists,  the  "anxious  seat"  of  the  Pres- 
byterians, and  the  Baptist  "experience,"  had  given  rise  to 
certain  modes  of  procedure,  in  efforts  to  convert  sinners, 
and  both  the  world  and  the  church  expected  one  of  these 
modes  of  procedure  in  all  cases.  The  sinfulness  of  man 
and  his  need  of  a  Saviour  were  preached,  Jesus  was  held 
up  as  the  only  Saviour,  and  sinners  were  exhorted  to  look 
to  Him  and  expect  Him  to  come,  with  a  power  that  could 
be  felt  in  the  soul,  and  save  them.  The  Methodists  had 
the  mourning  sinner  to  wait  at  the  mourner's  bench  to 
pray  and  be  prayed  for  that  he  might  be  converted.  The 
Presbyterians  set  him  upon  the  anxious  seat,  to  await  the 
converting  power.  The  Baptists  were  not  much  given  to 
rely  on  any  "  human  efforts.  "  They  were  in  those  days 
generally  Calvinistic  and  believed  in  an  "irresistible  grace." 
Still  they  taught  the  sinner  that  he  might  expect  an  expe- 
rience of  grace  in  the  soul,  and  promised  that  whenever 


*  Memoirs  of  Alexander  Campbell,  vol,  ii.,  p.  181. 


30  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

he  could  tell  a  satisfactory  experience  they  would  baptize 
him. 

To  face  long-established  usage,  and,  instead  of  putting 
the  penitent  sinner  on  a  mourner's  bench  or  anxious 
seat,  or  in  expectation  of  a  wonderful  internal  experience 
of  the  mystical  power  of  God,  simply  to  say  to  him,  "Re- 
pent and  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
for  the  remission  of  your  sins,  and  you  shall  receive  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,''  required  no  small  degree  of  cour- 
age. Walter  Scott  had  learned  the  truth  on  this  subject, 
and  after  some  very  natural  hesitation,  determined  to  put 
it  into  practice.  His  first  effort  was  made  at  a  place  out- 
side the  bounds  of  the  Association.  It  so  astounded  the 
people  that  not  a  soul  moved  when  he  gave  the  gospel  in- 
vitation. But  he  believed  he  was  right ;  he  had  committed 
himself,  and  now  he  must  defend  his  course.  He  an- 
nounced that  he  would  deliver  a  series  of  discourses  on  the 
Ancient  Gospel,  at  New  Lisbon,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio. 
The  event  is  so  important  that  we  ask  the  reader's  atten- 
tion to  a  pretty  full  account  of  it  as  given  by  William  Bax- 
ter : 

"  The  Baptist  Church  at  that  place  had  become  acquaint- 
ed with  him  at  the  Association,  and  received  with  pleasure 
an  appointment  from  him  for  a  series  of  discourses  on  the 
Ancient  Gospel ;  and  the  citizens  were  glad  to  have  a  visit 
from  the  eloquent  stranger.  On  the  first  Sunday  after  his 
arrival,  every  seat  in  the  meeting-house  was  filled  at  an 
early  hour ;  soon  every  foot  of  standing  room  was  occu- 
pied, and  the  doorway  blocked  up  by  an  eager  throng; 
and  inspired  by  the  interest  which  prevailed,  the  preacher 
began.  His  theme  was  the  confession  of  Peter,  Matt.  xvi. 
16  :  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  son  of  the  living  God,  " 
and  the  promise  which  grew  out  of  it,  that  he  should  have 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  31 

intrusted  to  him  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The 
declaration  of  Peter  was  a  theme  upon  which  he  had  thought 
for  years  ;  it  was  a  fact  which  he  regarded  the  four  gospels 
as  written  to  establish  ;  to  which  type  and  prophecy  had 
pointed  in  all  the  ages  gone  by  ;  which  the  Eternal  Father 
had  announced  from  heaven  when  Jesus  came  up  from  the 
waters  of  Jordan  and  the  Spirit  descended  and  abode  upon 
him,  and  which  was  repeated  again  amid  the  awful 
grandeur  and  solemnity  of  the  transfiguration  scene. 
He  then  proceeded  to  show  that  the  foundation-truth  of 
Christianity  was  the  divine  nature  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
— the  central  truth  around  which  all  others  revolved, 
and  from  which  they  derived  their  efficacy  and  importance 
— and  that  the  belief  of  it  was  calculated  to  produce  such 
love  in  the  heart  of  him  who  believed  it  as  would  lead  him 
to  true  obedience  to  the  object  of  his  faith  and  love.  To 
show  how  that  faith  and  love  were  to  be  manifested,  he 
quoted  the  language  of  the  great  commission,  and  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  Jesus  had  taught  his  apostles 
"that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached 
in  His  name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem." 
He  then  led  his  hearers  to  Jerusalem  on  the  memorable 
Pentecost,  and  bade  them  listen  to  an  authoritative  an- 
nouncement of  the  law  of  Christ,  now  to  be  made  known 
for  the  first  time,  by  the  same  Peter  to  whom  Christ  had 
promised  to  give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
which  he  represented  as  meaning  the  conditions  upon 
which  the  guilty  might  find  pardon  at  the  hands  of  the 
risen,  ascended,  and  glorified  Son  of  God,  and  enter  into 
His  kingdom. 

"After  a  rapid,  yet  graphic  review  of  Peter's  discourse, 
he  pointed  out  its  effect  on  those  that  heard  him,  and  bade 
them  mark  the  inquiry  which  a  deep  conviction  of  the  truth 


62  THE   LIFE   AND  TIMES   OF 

they  had  heard  forced  from  the  lips  of  the  heart-pierced 
multitudes,  who,  in  their  agony  at  the  discovery  that  they 
had  put  to  death  the  Son  of  God,  their  own  long-expected 
Messiah,  cried  out,  * 'Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do?" 
and  then,  with  flashing  eye  and  impassioned  manner,  as  if 
he  fully  realized  that  he  was  but  re-echoing  the  words  of 
one  who  spake  as  the  Spirit  gave  him  utterance,  he  gave 
the  reply,  "Repent,  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  you,  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye 
shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  He  then,  with 
great  force  and  power,  made  his  application  ;  he  insisted 
that  the  conditions  were  unchanged,  that  the  Word  of  God 
meant  what  it  said,  and  that  to  receive  and  obey  it  was  to 
obey  God  and  to  imitate  the  example  of  those  who,  un- 
der the  preaching  of  the  Apostles,  gladly  accepted  the 
gospel  message.  His  discourse  was  long,  but  his  hearers 
marked  not  the  flight  of  time ;  the  Baptists  forgot,  in  ad- 
miration of  its  scriptural  beauty  and  simplicity,  that  it  was 
contrary  to  much  in  their  own  teaching  and  practice.  Some 
of  them,  who  had  been,  in  a  measure,  enlightened  before, 
rejoiced  in  the  truth  the  moment  they  perceived  it ;  and 
to  others,  who  had  long  been  perplexed  by  the  difficulties 
and  contradictions  of  the  discordant  views  of  the  day,  it 
was  like  light  to  weary  travelers  long  benighted  and  lost."* 
A  curious  circumstance,  illustrative  of  the  fact  that  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation  were,  during  a  period  of  sev- 
eral years,  grasped  by  many  different  men  who  had  no 
knowledge  of  each  other,  is  related  in  the  history  of  this 
meeting.  There  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  William  Amend 
living  in  that  community,  who  had  by  his  own  researches 
arrived  at  the  same  conclusions  as  to  the  Bible  teaching 

♦Life  of  Walter  Scott,  pp,  103—5. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  33 

presented  in  Mr.  Scott's  discourse.  He  had  declared  his 
convictions  to  his  wife,  and  that,  if  he  ever  found  a  man 
who  preached  it  that  way,  he  would  make  his  confession 
and  obey  the  Gospel.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church,  and  a  very  pious  man.  On  the  day  when  this 
discourse  was  preached,  taking  no  interest  whatever  iu 
Mr.  Scott  or  his  work,  he  had  been  somewhere  else,  and 
passed  the  meeting-house  on  his  return.  Curiosity  led 
him  to  step  in,  and  he  entered  the  door  just  as  Mr.  Scott 
began  to  recapitulate  the  points  of  his  discourse,  and  stood 
in  the  aisle  not  far  from  the  door.  The  first  words  he 
heard  riveted  his  attention  upon  the  preacher,  and  he  list- 
ened with  profound  and  eager  attention  to  the  close. 
When  the  invitation  was  given,  to  the  amazement  of  the 
congregation,  who  knew  him  well,  he  pressed  forward  to 
make  his  confession  and  demand. baptism. 

This  happened  November  18th,  1827.  Immediately, 
Thomas  Campbell,  Alexander  Campbell,  Joseph  Gaston, 
Aylett  Raines,  William  Hayden,  John  Henry,  and  very 
soon  after,  a  host  of  others,  joined  Walter  Scott  in  this 
last  and  greatest  step  in  the  restoration  of  the  Ancient 
Gospel  to  the  world.  They  hesitated  not,  thereafter,  to 
say  to  a  penitent  believer,  as  Ananias  said  to  Saul  of  Tar- 
sus :  ''Arise  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  call- 
ins:  on  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

But  clear  as  were  their  scriptural  answers  to  believing 
penitents,  the  masses  of  religious  people  were  by  no  means 
ready  to  receive  their  teaching  as  sound  doctrine.  The 
clergy  grew  furious,  and  the  opposition  to  the  Reformation 
was  more  determined  than  ever. 

The  Reformation  of  Virginia  and  the  Western  Reserve 
of  Ohio,  thus  strongly  marked,  and  by  its  thoroughness 
effectually  separated  from  all  the  forms  of  religious  society 
3 


34  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP 

around  it,  gradually  extended  westward.  But  before  it 
penetrated  Eastern  Indiana,  the  region  with  which  we  are 
immediately  concerned,  it  had  coalesced  with  another  re- 
form movement,  and  the  coalition,  as  above  remarked, 
was  somewhat  different  from  either  of  the  original  move- 
ments.  It  was  not,  indeed,  different  in  doctrine ;  but 
there  was  an  element  of  character  in  the  men  who  led  the 
Reformation  in  the  West  which  gave  it  increased  vitality, 
and  made  it  more  acceptable  to  western  people.  This  ad- 
ditional element  we  shall  now  briefly  trace. 

Barton  Warren  Stone  was  born  in  Maryland,  December 
24th,  1772.  When  about  seven  years  of  age,  his  father 
died  and  his  mother  moved  to  Pittsylvania  county,  Vir- 
ginia. Here  he  spent  nine  years  of  his  youth,  and  made 
great  progress  in  the  elements  of  an  English  education. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered  an  Academy  at  Guilford, 
North  Carolina,  with  a  view  to  qualifying  himself  for  the 
legal  profession.  While  attending  the  school  at  Guilford, 
a  great  religious  excitement  prevailed,  under  the  labors 
of  James  McGready,  a  Presbyterian  minister.  Mr.  Stone 
became  deeply  concerned  about  his  salvation,  and  for  a 
whole  year  was  in  agony,  weeping  and  mourning,  and 
seeking  relief,  but  finding  none.  One  day,  after  hearing 
a  touching  discourse  on  the  text,  * 'God  is  love,"  he  retired 
to  the  woods  with  his  Bible,  and  while  reading  and  pray- 
ing, he  experienced  a  tranquil  state  of  mind  which  he  at 
once  accepted  as  evidence  of  his  salvation. 

Having  finished  his  school  studies,  he  began  to  think  of 
preaching.  Then  came  another  season  of  doubt  and  per- 
plexity— he  had  not  clearly  had  "a  call  to  preach."  But 
his  old  preceptor  re-assured  him  with  the  declaration  that 
a  desire  to  glorify  God  and  save  sinners  was  evidence 
enough  of  a  call  to  preach.     Upon  this  assurance  he  be- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  35 

came  a  candidate  for  the  ministry  in  the  Orange  Presby- 
tery. During  the  time  of  his  preparation  he  was  repeat- 
edly thrown  into  doubts  and  gloom  by  the  difficulties  of 
the  scholastic  theology  which  he  was  called  on  to  study. 
His  mind  craved  something  that  was  tangible  and  that  he 
could  understand.  He  was  particularly  disturbed  by  the 
perusal  of  "Witsins  on  the  Trinity,"  which  had  been  put 
into  his  hands  for  his  enlightenment  (  !)  in  that  profound- 
est  of  all  mysteries  in  a  system  of  mysterious  divinity. 
He  was  finally  licensed  to  preach.  But  knowing  that  at 
the  time  of  his  ordination  he  would  be  called  upon  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  as  contain- 
ing the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Bible,  he  deter- 
mined to  give  if"  one  more  thorough  examination.  He 
had,  up  to  this  time,  partially  evaded  the  subjects  of  the 
Trinity,  election,  reprobatiou,  etc.,  as  great  and  unfath- 
omable mysteries,  and  had  dwelt  on  the  practical  duties 

of  religion.     But  now  he   saw  that  these  were  essential 

© 

parts  of  the  system  he  would  be  asked  to  subscribe  to  and 
teach.  Being  a  thoroughly  candid  man,  and  unable  to  rec- 
oncile the  difficulties  he  met  with,  he  determined  to  sub- 
mit his  dilemma  to  the  action  of  the  Presbytery.  Calling 
two  of  the  more  prominent  ministers  aside,  he  stated  his 
difficulties  to  them.  After  a  protracted  conversation,  in 
which  they  found  they  could  not  relieve  his  mind,  and 
wishing  to  retain  so  promising  a  young  man  to  the  minis- 
try of  their  church,  they  asked  him  how  far  he  would  be 

willing  to  subscribe  to  the  Confession.     "  As  far  as  it  is 

© 

consistent  with  the  word  of  God,"  was  his  prompt  response 
to  this  interrogatory.  The  same  answer,  given  before  the 
Presbytery,  was  accepted  and  he  was  ordained  at  a  regular 
session  of  the  Transylvania  Presbytery. 

Some  time  before  his  ordination  he  had  emigrated  to 


36  THE   LIFE  AND   TIMES   OP 

Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  then  comparatively  a  new 
country.  His  preaching  here  was  so  acceptable  that  he 
received  and  accepted  a  call  to  the  pastorate  in  the  Cane- 
ridge  and  Concord  churches.  It  was  to  this  pastorate 
that  he  was  ordained  as  above  described. 

In  1801  a  wonderful  religious  excitement  prevailed  in 
Southern  Kentucky  and  Northern  Tennessee.  Mr.  Stone, 
hearing  of  this  revival,  and  that  it  was  conducted  under 
James  McGready,  the  minister  who  had  first  awakened 
his  religious  feelings  some  years  before  in  North  Carolina, 
went  down  to  Logan  county,  to  attend  a  camp-meeting 
which  was  to  be  held  there.  The  excitement  was  attend- 
ed with  certain  nervous  agitations  and  cataleptic  attacks  of 
a  very  wonderful  character.  These  strange  affections 
were  not  confined  to  those  persons  who  were  under  con- 
viction. Frequently  a  mere  spectator,  who  thought  him- 
self self-possessed,  would  become  the  subject  of  a  sort  of 
spasmodic  action,  and  would  be  jerked  this  way  and  that 
way,  most  violently,  as  if  under  some  awful  but  invisible 
power.  This  was  the  more  frequent  form  of  the  attack, 
and  people  called  it  "having  the  jerks."  Sometimes  a 
profane  man  would  take  the  jerks  very  suddenly,  and 
grasping  a  tree  or  bench  to  try  and  hold  himself  still,  he 
would  jerk  and  swear  and  swear  and  jerk,  until,  overcome 
by  the  powerful  excitement,  he  would  swoon  awav.  From 
this  swoon  he  would,  after  a  time,  revive,  calm  and  tran- 
quil, and  believe  he  had  been  converted  ;  or,  perhaps,  re- 
vive only  to  a  despairing  sense  of  his  sins,  and  to  go  through 
another  series  of  spasmodic  jerks.  Others  sank  into  a 
swoon  at  the  first  attack  of  the  supposed  converting  pow- 
er, and  after  lying  for  a  time  entirely  motionless,  as  if 
dead,  would  suddenly  revive  and  praise  the  Lord  with  a 
shout  or  with  a  song. 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  37 

Mr.  Stone  looked  upon  the  scene  for  a  time,  and  became 
convinced  that  these  manifestations  were  the  work  of  God, 
sent  among  men  to  arouse  them  to  a  sense  of  their  sinful- 
ness and  need  of  a  Saviour.  On  his  return  to  Caneridge, 
these  strange  things  occurred  under  his  own  preaching. 
At  a  protracted  meeting  in  August  of  that  year,  more 
than  twenty  thousand  people  were  in  attendance  ;  Meth- 
odist and  Baptist  preachers  joined  with  the  Presbyterians, 
and  preaching  was  kept  up  at  several  different  places  on 
the  camp-ground  at  the  same  time. 

But  stranger  still  than  these  jerks  and  catalepsies  was 
the  awakening  of  that  Calvinistic  people  to  a  sense  of  the 
necessity  of  using  the  means  of  grace  which  God  has  or- 
dained. Barton  Stone  was  an  Old  School  Presbyterian, 
and  the  Baptists  who  joined  him  in  the  meeting  were 
Calvinists  of  the  strictest  sect.  Yet  Mr.  Stone  says  that 
they  boldly  preached  the  sufficiency  of  the  gospel  to  save 
men,  and  that  the  testimony  of  God  was  designed  and  is 
able  to  produce  faith.  "  The  people  appeared,"  he  said, 
"  as  if  just  awakened  from  a  sleep  of  ages ;  they  seemed 
to  see  for  the  first  time  that  they  were  responsible  beings, 
and  that  the  refusal  to  use  the  means  appointed  was  a 
damning  Bio/'  This  recognition  of  man's  responsibility 
under  the  enlighteninor  influence  of  the  word  which  God 
has  spoken  unto  us  by  His  son,  is  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  the  separate  Reformations  which  we  are  now  com- 
paring. In  it  they  were  perfectly  agreed.  But  the  Cane- 
ridore  revival  had  not  followed  it  to  its  full  results,  as  will 
presently  be  shown. 

The  authorities  of  the  Presbjrterian  Church  could  not 
long  endure  so  great  a  departure  from  the  standards,  and 
soon  one  of  the  offending  preachers  was  put  upon  his 
trial  before  the  Synod  at  Lexington.     Believing  that  the 


38  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

Synod  would  decide  against  him,  and  institute  proceed- 
ings against  others,  five  ministers  entered  a  protest  against 
the  action  of  the  Synod  and  withdrew  from  its  jurisdic- 
tion. These  five  men  were  Robert  Marshall,  John  Dun- 
In  vy,  Richard  McNemar,  Barton  W.  Stone,  and  John 
Thompson.  David  Pnrviance  was,  at  the  time  of  the 
withdrawal,  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  but  withdrew 
and  joined  the  protestants.  The  protesting  ministers  at 
first  formed  a  new  Presbytery,  naming  it  the  Springfield 
Presbytery.  But  soon,  realizing  that  such  an  organiza- 
tion was  unscriptural,  within  a  year  after  its  formation,  at 
a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  they  drew  up  what  they 
facetiously  called  "  The  last  will  and  testament  of  the 
Springfield  Presbytery,"  and  dissolved  it.  They  discarded 
all  human  creeds,  and  held  that  the  Bible  was  a  sufficient 
rule  of  faith  and  practice.  They  laid  aside  the  name 
Presbyterian  and  called  themselves  Christians.  The 
churches  planted  by  them  were  called  Christian  churches. 
And  in  course  of  time,  when  such  churches  wrere  so  mul- 
tiplied that  they  began  to  regard  themselves  denomi- 
nationally, or  as  a  distinct  party  in  Christendom,  the 
churches  collectively  were  called,  "  The  Christian  Con- 
nection. "  Those  not  belonging  to  this  "Connection" 
usually  spoke  of  it  as  "The  Newlight  Church, "  and  its 
members  as  "  Newlights." 

This  "Christian  Connection,"  starting  atCaneridge,  in 
Kentucky,  extended  eastward  and  northward,  while  the 
Reformation  of  Bethany  and  eastern  Ohio  reached  west- 
ward and  southward,  until  the  parties,  as  early  as  1830 
came  into  contact,  or  rather,  it  might  better  be  said,  came 
together.  Three  preachers  of  the  Christian  Connection 
were  present  at  the  session  of  the  Mahoning  Association 
above  referred  to,  which  chose  Walter  Scott  as  a  traveling 
evangelist,  and  were  invited  to  seats  in  the  Association^ 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  39 

The  Caneridge  Reformers,  or  "  Newli gilts' '  as  they 
were  often  derisively  called,  did  not  come  to  the  clear  and 
settled  views  of  baptism  that  were  held  by  the  Bethany 
Reformers.  Robert  Marshal  had,  as  early  as  1801,  called 
Barton  Stone's  attention  to  the  subject,  declaring  his 
belief  that  the  Baptists  were  right  in  regard  to  it.  After 
the  great  revival,  the  subject  was  again  agitated,  and 
although  they  agreed  to  exercise  forbearance  toward  each 
other  in  regard  to  it,  immersion  was  very  generally  prac- 
ticed. Mr.  Stone  quite  early  stumbled  on  the  truth  in 
regard  to  the  design  of  baptism,  but  did  not  at  the  time 
have  so  clear  a  conception  of  what  the  Bible  teaches  as 
to  adhere  to  it  firmly — -he  only  "  saw  men  as  trees  walk- 
ing." At  a  great  meeting  held  at  Concord,  mourners 
were  as  usual  called  forward  to  pray  and  be  prayed  for. 
Some,  after  long  waiting  and  many  prayers  in  their  behalf, 
still  failed  "to  obtain  the  blessing."  Looking  upon  them 
with  most  earnest  solicitude  in  their  behalf,  "  the  words 
of  Peter  on  Pentecost,"  said  Mr.  Stone,  "  rolled  through 
my  mind  :  '  Repent  and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  and  you  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.' 
I  thought  were  Peter  here  he  would  thus  address  these 
mourners.  I  quickly  arose  and  addressed  them  in  the 
same  language,  and  urged  them  to  comply."  But  the 
effect  was  like  that  of  Walter  Scott's  first  discourse  and 
invitation,  above  alluded  to.  The  people  were  simply 
amazed.  They  had  long  been  held  in  expectancy  of  a 
baptism  "with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire"  and,  as 
Mr.  Stone  afterwards  wittily  observed,  the  suggestion  of 
water  "  had  a  chilling  effect"  upon  them.  But  he  did 
not  have  such  decided  convictions  as  Mr.  Scott,  and  con- 
sequently did  not  follow  up  the  Scripture  teaching  on  that 
subject.     Th§  «*  Christian  Connection"   therefore  con- 


40  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

tinued  to  receive  members  into  full  fellowship  and  com- 
munion without  baptism  if  they  did  not  "feel  it  a  duty 
to  be  baptized." 

Notwithstanding  their  differences  on  baptism,  they  were 
so  much  alike  on  other  important  matters  which  sepa- 
rated them  from  the  religious  world  around  them  that 
whenever  they  came  together  the  subject  of  union  would 
naturally  agitate  the  minds  of  both  parties.  Both  com- 
munities had  thrown  aside  human  creeds  and  formulas ; 
both  had  discarded  all  human  names ;  both  were  urging 
all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  sincerely  to  unite  on 
the  Bible  as  an  all-sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ;  and 
finally,  both  communities  were  fully  recognizing  man's 
responsibility  by  urging  sinners  to  believe  on  the  Saviour 
through  the  testimony  of  God,  to  repent  of  sins  and  obey 
the  Gospel.  On  this  latter  subject  the  Christian  Connec- 
tion were  not  fully  agreed  among  themselves.  Those  of 
them  who  refused  to  unite  with  the  Bethany  people,  and 
who  maintained  still  a  separate  existence  as  the  "  Christ- 
ian Connection,"  fell  back  into  the  old  notions  of  mysti- 
cal religion. 

The  union  of  two  religious  parties  so  nearly  allied 
would  seem,  to  a  man  with  his  mind  still  full  of  denomi- 
national forms,  no  difficult  matter.  But  Mr.  Campbell 
andSMr.  Stone  were  for  some  time  quite  puzzled  with  it ; 
and  when  the  solution  came,  it  was  rather  a  general  provi- 
dence of  God  than  the  result  of  any  formal  ecclesiastical 
action. 

"  Both  Mr.  Campbell  and  Mr.  Stone  were  alike  devoted 
to  the  great  end  of  uniting  the  true  followers  of  Christ 
into  one  communion  upon  the  Bible,  but  each  regarded 
the  method  of  its  accomplishment  from  his  own  point  of 
view.     Mr.  Campbell,  contemplating  the  distinct  congre- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  41 

gations,  with  their  proper  functionaries,  as  the  highest  re- 
ligious executive  authority  on  earth,  was  in  doubt  how  a 
formal  union  could  be  attained,  whether  by  a  general  con- 
vention of  messengers,  or  a  general  assembly  of  the 
people.  Barton  W.  Stone,  on  the  other  hand,  looking  at 
the  essential  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  exclaimed,  'Oh,  my 
brethren,  let  us  repent  and  do  the  first  works,  let  us  seek 
for  more  holiness,  rather  than  trouble  ourselves  and 
others  with  schemes  and  plans  of  union.  The  love  of 
God,  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  given 
unto  us,  will  more  effectually  unite  than  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  world  combined. '  This  great  truth  was  not  long 
in  being  exemplified,  and  that,  too,  by  methods  which, 
like  the  natural  movements  of  the  body,  were  the  most 
direct  and  simple."* 

The  question  of  union  was  soon  solved,  as  far  as  it 
could  be  solved,  by  the  ministrations  of  godly  men  who 
visited  the  congregations  of  both  communities  and  taught 
them  to  worship  together.  In  1831,  John  T.  Johnson 
became  a  co-editor  of  the  Christian  Messenger,  a  periodi- 
cal published  by  Barton  Stone  at  Georgetown,  Kentucky. 
This  editorial  union  was  soon  followed  by  the  union  of 
the  two  churches  in  Georgetown.  At  the  close  of  the 
same  year  a  general  meeting  was  held  at  Georgetown,  in- 
cluding Christmas  day  and  continuing  four  days.  Another 
was  held  at  Lexington,  including  the  New  Year's  day  fol- 
lowing. No  formal  action  was  taken  at  either  meeting, 
because  the  Congregationalism  of  both  parties  was  so  pure 
and  simple  that  it  was  supposed  to  be  impossible  to  take 
any  formal  action.  But  a  better  understanding  and 
increased  fraternal  regard  was  the  result  of  the  general 


Memoirs  of  Campbell,  Yol.  II,  p.  373. 


42  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP 

interchange  of  views  by  the  leading  preachers  of  both 
parties  at  these  meetings.  In  a  short  time  the  two  con- 
gregations in  Lexington  united.  A  union  of  the  two 
churches  in  Paris  next  took  place ;  and  so  the  work  went 
on.  till  nearly  all  of  the  two  classes  of  Reformers  were 
united  and  became  one  people  throughout  the  State  of 
Kentucky. 

The  union  was  not  so  complete  elsewhere.  Some  took 
alarm  at  the  preaching  of  baptism  for  the  remission  of 
sins  and  were  inclined  to  hold  on  to  the  old  views  of  a 
mystical  religion.  These,  appropriating  the  name  "Chris- 
tian Church"  denominationally,  have  crystallized  into  a 
regular  sectarian  organization,  and  have  diverged  so  for 
from  the  teaching  of  Stone  and  Campbell  that  they  will 
more  readily  fraternize  with  the  United  Brethren  and 
Protestant  Methodists  than  with  the  advocates  of  the 
ancient  order  of  worship. 

The  principles  of  the  Reformers  were  such  as  to  cut 
them  loose  from  all  sectarian  organizations  ;  and,  existing 
as  separate  people,  there  began  to  be  felt  a  necessity  for 
some  distinctive  denominational  epithet.  Regarding  Alex- 
ander Campbell  as  the  leader,  the  people  around  them 
soon  resolved  the  difficulty  by  calling  the  Reformers, 
"Campbellites,"  while  the  aggregate  of  the  churches  was 
styled  the  "Campbellite  Church."  By  the  same  authority 
the  Kentucky  Reformers  were  called  "  Newlights  "  and 
their  connection,  the  "Nevvlight  Church." 

"Campbellite  Church"  and  "Nevvlight  Church"  was  an 
easy  and  ready  way  of  distinguishing  the  two  peoples 
from  each  other  and  from  the  religious  parties  around 
them.  But  those  who  held  with  Mr,  Campbell  so  per- 
sistently and  so  emphatically  repudiated  the  term  "Camp- 
bellite,"   that   common   courtesy   has    commanded    the 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN*  43 

disuse  of  the  term.  "Reform  Church, "  and  "Disciple 
Church,"  have  been  used  in  some  localities,  but  have  never 
been  acknowledged  by  the  people  themselves  as  appro- 
priate. "Christian  Church,"  is,  perhaps,  most  current 
of  all  terms  used  for  this  purpose,  and  withal  the  least 
objectionable  to  the  people  for  whom  a  name  is  sought. 

The  situation  is  one  of  considerable  difficulty.  Sepa- 
rated by  our  principles  from  the  sects  and  parties  of 
Christendom,  we  desire  to  speak  of  ourselves,  or  of 
"  our  brotherhood,"  as  such.  We  want  a  Bible  term,  for 
we  profess  to  be  guided  by  the  Bible  in  all  things.  But 
all  the  terms  in  the  Bible  apply  either  to  the  local  congre- 
gations, or  to  the  whole  body  of  Christians.  There  is  no 
Bible  name  for  "our  brotherhood,"  in  this  sectarian 
sense.  It  would  be  well  if  all  the  members  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  would  abandon  the  denominational 
idea  altogether.  There  is  an  exclusiveness  involved  that 
is  contradictory  to  the  principles  of  the  Reformation. 

The  confusion  in  the  use  of  the  term  "  Christian 
Church,"  by  two  communities  not  in  fellowship  with  each 
other,  was,  at  the  time  and  in  the  locality  of  which  we 
write,  very  groat  ;  for  both  parties  were  quite  numerous 
in  Eastern  Indiana,  and  the  differences  between  them 
had  come  to  be  very  marked.  As  above  noted,  these  par- 
ties had  generally  united  in;  Kentucky.  But  there  were 
some  there,  and  many  in  other  places,  who  took  alarm  at 
the  thought  of  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  grew 
quite  determined  in  their  opposition  to  those  who  taught 
it.  They  also  fell  back  from  the  teaching  of  Mr.  Stone, 
that  the  Gospel  is  to  be  believed  upon  the  testimony  of 
God,  and  obeyed,  to  the  old  notion  of  a  mystical  spiritual 
regeneration,  and  returned  to  the  old  revival  methods. 

The  excitement  of  the  Caneridge  revival  made  all   the 


44  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN. 

converts  wonderfully  enthusiastic.  It  has  been  observed 
that  the  Bethany  Reformers  were  not  at  all  a  proselyting 
people  until  after  they  were  awakened  to  that  work  by 
the  tremendous  zeal  of  Walter  Scott.  But  the  case  was 
very  different  with  the  Caneridge  Reformers.  They  were 
born  in  an  excitement.  Even  when  they  had  grown  so 
far  enlightened  as  to  rely  on  the  testimony  of  God  to 
produce  faith  in  the  honest-hearted  hearer,  they  continued 
to  preach  with  the  same  fiery  zeal  as  before.  Everything 
was  made  as  real  hy  their  strong  faith  as  if  the  facts  they 
preached  were  transpiring  before  their  eyes.  The  words 
of  God  on  the  pages  of  the  Bible  were  as  real  as  if  they 
had  been  spoken  directly  to  them  from  heaven  in  an  audi- 
ble voice. 

It  was  the  addition  of  these  zealous  people  that  gave  a 
somewhat  different  character  to  the  Western  Reformers. 
They  had  the  clear  conception  of  the  Gospel  truth  charac- 
terizing Campbell  and  Scott,  and  were  impelled  in  its 
proclamation  by  the  zeal  of  Barton  Stone.  Protracted 
meetings  were  held  everywhere  that  people  could  be 
congregated  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  Sinners  were 
thoroughly  instructed  in  the  Gospel,  and  were  then  ex- 
horted and  warned,  by  all  that  is  involved  in  eternal  hap- 
piness or  everlasting  destruction,  to  believe  and  obey. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WE  must  detain  the  reader  yet  awhile  to  introduce 
the  remarkable  man  who  brought  the  light  of  the 
Gospel  to  Benjamin  Franklin  and  baptised  him. 
It  is  another  example  from  the  long  list  of  free  minds 
that  refused  to  be  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  the  secta- 
rianism which  prevailed  all  around  him.  Samuel  Rogers 
did  not  perhaps  learn,  unaided,  "the  principles  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ,"  but,  aided  at  first  only  by  a  pious 
mother's  prayers  and  counsels,  he  did  learn  enough  of  the 
Bible  to  realize  that  there  was  something  higher  and  bet- 
ter than  he  saw  around  him.  The  best  account  of  the 
man  we  have  at  hand  is  an  autobiographical  sketch  which 
we  subjoin,  from  Dr.  Richardson's  Memoirs  of  Campbell, 
Vol.  II,  p.  331,  etseq.: 

" 1  was  born  in  old  Virginia,  November  6, 1789  ;  moved 
to  Kentucky  in  1793  ;  settled  in  Clark  county,  Kentucky, 
until  1801.  Moved  then  to  Missouri,  called  Upper 
Louisiana,  then  under  Spanish  rule.  My  mother,  a  pious 
Methodist,  sewed  up  her  Bible  in  a  feather-bed  to  keep  the 
priests  from  finding  it.  This  is  the  only  Bible  I  ever  saw 
till  I  was  grown.  My  father  urged  my  mother  to  leave 
her  Bible,  as  it  might  give  her  trouble  in  this  new  coun- 
try, but  she  said  she  must  have  it  to  read  to  her  children  ; 
and  she  did  read  it  to  us  much,  and  by  her  piety  and 
counsels  tried  to  impress  its  truths  upon  our  minds  and 
hearts.  As  I  was  the  eldest  child,  this  was  all  the  preach- 
ing I  heard  until  a  young  man. 

"  After  my  mother  had  taught  me  to  write  my  name  and 
spell  a  little,  I  was  sent  to  school  three  months.     At  the 


46  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

end  of  this  time  I  graduated  with  honor,  having  learned 
to  read,  write,  and  cypher  to  the  rule  of  three.  This  was 
about  all  our  teachers  knew  themselves.  My  mother's  read- 
ings, prayers  and  counsels,  gave  me  early  a  high  regard 
for  her  religion,  Though  my  proud  heart  often  rebelled, 
yet  a  mother's  voice  would  bring  me  back  to  sober  reflec- 
tion again.  I  heard  a  Methodist  preach  the  first  discourse 
I  ever  listened  to  :  soon  after  I  heard  a  Baptist.  I  liked 
the  free  salvation  of  the  Methodist,  but  disliked  his  bap- 
tism. I  liked  the  baptism  of  the  other,  but  disliked  his 
Calvinism.  I  returned  to  Kentucky  about  nineteen  years 
old,  and  found  a  great  stir  occasioned  by  the  late  strange 
revivals  under  B.  W.  Stone  and  others.  Many  abused 
Stone,  while  others  praised  him.  I,  however,  went  to  hear 
him  for  myself,  and  was  much  pleased.  He  called  on  all 
to  come  to  Christ,  and  invited  all  to  lay  aside  their  creeds 
and  take  the  Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
I  was  pleased  with  his  preaching:  it  sounded  like  the 
truth — like  the  religion  I  had  heard  of.  Whatever  may- 
have  been  said  of  the  errors  of  Stone  and  those  people, 
it  was  evident  they  were  spiritually  minded,  and  the  most 
prayerful  people  of  their  times.  I  was  baptised  by  Stone, 
1812.  The  war  came  on,  and  the  church  became  greatly 
demoralized ;  and  I,  among  the  rest,  was  by  no  means 
exempt  from  its  unhappy  influences.  However,  after  the 
war,  through  the  preaching  of  Stone  and  others,  we  all 
got  to  work  again,  renewing  our  covenants  with  God,  and 
a  glorious  revival  followed.  I  became  an  exhorter  by 
necessity.  We  held  little  meetings  from  house  to  house, 
and  often  had  to  send  for  a  preacher  to  baptize  our  con- 
verts. The  preachers  told  me  I  was  called  of  God  to 
preach.  I  had  not  thought  of  being  a  preacher,  but  be- 
ing convinced   by  their  arguments  that  I  was  divinely 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  47 

called,  I  was  ordained  by  Stone  at  Caneridge,  fifty-two 
yea*s  ago.  He  then  gave  me  a  Bible,  saying:  'Preach 
its  facts,  obey  its  commands,  and  enjoy  its  promises.'  I 
was  greatly  troubled  about  my  call.  I  contended  that  if 
I  was  called,  as  were  the  Apostles,  I  ought  to  have  their 
credentials  and  be  able  to  prove  my  apostleship.  I  at- 
tempted to  draw  from  dreams  and  visions  and  vague 
impressions,  some  superhuman  aid  ;  often  went  on  long 
tours  upon  a  mere  impression  of  the  mind,  taking  it  as  a 
call.  1  thought  I  ought  to  perform  miracles.  My  mind 
was  often  in  a  wretched  state.  About  this  time  I  got  the 
Christian  Baptist,  and  found  relief.  I  believe  I  should 
have  gone  crazy  but  for  Alexander  Campbell.  I  was  not 
slow  to  embrace  his  view,  but  knew  it  to  be  truth  the 
very  moment  I  saw  it,  and  at  once  and  in  haste  adopted 
it.  This  was  about  1825.  I  had  travelled  thousands  of 
miles,  preached  all  over  the  wilds  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illi- 
nois, Missouri^ — swam  rivers,  exposed  myself  to  every 
danger,  saying,  '  Wo  is  me,  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel.' 
I  was  ardent,  impulsive,  enthusiastic,  and  my  labors  were 
greatly  blessed.  But  a  heavy  gloom  hung  over  me  when 
I  would  think  of  my  call  and  compare  it  with  that  of  the 
Apostles. 

"Bless  the  Lord!  Alexander  Campbell  came  to  my 
relief.  His  debate  with  Walker,  and  then  his  debate  with 
McCalla,  waked  up  the  people,  and  to  me  it  was  like  the 
rising  of  the  sun  after  a  long,  gloomy  night.  I  heard  him 
at  Wilmington,  Ohio,  on  his  first  visit.  I  compared  him 
to  Ezra  of  old,  that  great  reformer  who  restored  to  Israel 
the  lost  law  of  God.  Stone  had  given  me  the  book,  but 
Campbell  taught  me  how  to  read  it  in  its  connection.  I 
took  his  first  periodical,  the  Christian  Baptist,  and  since 
that  time  have  taken  and  read  everything  he  ever  pub- 


48  the  ltfe  and  times  otf 

lished.  I  owe  him  more  than  any  man  since  apostolic 
times.  He  preached  no  new  gospel,  and  brought  in  no 
new  God,  but  taught  us  how  to  worship  intelligently  the 
God  whom  we  had  ignorantly  worshipped,  and  to  go  back 
over  the  heads  of  all  human  teachers  to  the  great  Foun- 
tain of  truth  for  our  faith  and  practice. 

"  Alexander  Campbell  taught  as  no  other  man,  but  with 
a  clearness  and  simplicity  that  carried  at  once  conviction 
to  the  mind  of  every  man  of  common  sense.  He  gave 
me  the  New  Testament  he  published,  with  preface  and 
appendix.  I  have  it  yet.  It  is  the  best  of  all  new  trans- 
lations ;  his  preface  and  appendix  are  invaluable. 

"  I  have  sacrificed  my  whole  life  for  this  cause;  re- 
ceived almost  nothing  for  twenty-five  years  of  the  time  ; 
baptized  my  thousands — I  think  seven  thousand,  as  near 
as  I  could  tell — but  have  a  beautiful  home  ready  for  me  on 
the  other  side  of  Jordan.  I  am  in  my  eightieth  year — 
preach  much  yet — my  voice  is  as  good  as  ever  ;  can  speak 
in  the  open  air  so  as  to  be  heard  by  one  thousaad  people. 
Amen." 

The  sketch  is  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  also  shows 
the  difference  between  the  two  reformatory  movements 
described  in  the  last  chapter.  "  Stone  had  given  me  the 
book,  but  Campbell  taught  me  how  to  read  it,"  is  one  of 
those  short  and  significant  sentences  which  comprehend  a 
whole  history.  Those  who  knew  Mr.  Rogers  will  not 
agree  that  he  has  exaggerated  the  facts  of  his  long  career. 
He  was  naturally  an  ardent  man,  and  religiously  was  fired 
with  all  the  zeal  of  the  great  Caneridge  revival.  He  knew 
the  Bible  thoroughly,  and  drew  the  contrast  between  it 
and  the  compound  of  mysticism  and  scholastic  theology 
received  by  the  people  generally  as  religion,  with  a  mas- 
ter hand.    After  properly  instructing  the  people,  he  went 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  49 

on  to  exhort  men  to  obedience.  His  exhortations  were  in 
the  spirit  of  a  man  rushing  into  his  neighbor's  house  to 
notify  him  that  his  house  was  in  flames,  and  warning  him 
to  make  haste  if  he  would  save  his  life.  The  awful  reali- 
ties of  death  and  the  judgment  seemed  to  be  immediately 
before  him,  and  he  could  make  sinners  feel  that  they  were 
in  danger.  Such  appeals  were,  of  course,  fruitful  of  good 
results,  and  sinners  confessed  and  obeyed  the  Gospel  under 
his  ministrations  by  scores,  by  fifties,  and  by  hundreds. 

In  the  year  1834,  Samuel  Eogers  moved  into  Henry 
county,  Indiana,  and  settled  a  near  neighbor  to  Joseph 
Franklin,  Sr.  There  had  been  a  small  congregation  of 
Disciples  already  formed,  which,  for  some  reason,  did  not 
harmonize  with  Mr.  Rogers.  He  preached  for  a  time  in  a 
school-house  ;  but  presently  the  disagreement  just  alluded 
to  led  to  his  exclusion  from  the  school-house.  This  ex- 
clusion was  regarded  by  most  of  the  people  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  manifest  injustice,  and  awakened  a  general 
sympathy  in  Mr.  Rogers'  favor.  He  thereafter  preached 
in  groves,  barns  and  private  dwellings,  to  increased  audi- 
ences. It  was  this  general  sympathy,  shared  in  by  Mr. 
Franklin,  that  led  him  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  new 
preacher. 

Joseph  Franklin  and  his  wife,  while  residing  in  Eastern 
Ohio,  were  members  of  the  Protestant  Methodist  Church, 
and  had  been  immersed.  In  their  new  location  they  found 
no  ohureh  of  their  own,  and  had  affiliated  with  the  Epis- 
copal Methodists.  They  were  very  religious  people, 
strong  in  faith,  and  well  versed  in  the  Scriptures,  but  still 
quite  committed  to  the  Methodist  doctrine,  and  prejudiced 
against  a  horrid  something  they  had  heard  of,  called 
"  Campbellism."  When  Mr.  Rogers  tirst  preached  in  the 
neighborhood,  Mr.  Franklin  and  a  neighbor  went  to  hear 


50  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

him.  Benjamin,  who  had  up  to  this  time  given  the  sub- 
ject of  religion  no  especial  thought,  accompanied  them. 
On  their  return  from  the  meeting,  the  two  older  men 
were  in  a  high  state  of  excitement  over  the  preaching  they 
had  heard.  Benjamin  had  himself  paid  but  little  attention 
to  the  preaching ;  but  the  excitement  of  his  father  and  the 
neighbor  soon  attracted  his  notice.  The  preacher  hud 
held  the  doctrine,  as  they  avowed,  that  "  baptism  is  es- 
sential to  salvation,"  and  it  was  most  abominable  heresy. 
Irreligious  as  he  was,  Benjamin  had  heard  preaching,  and 
the  Bible  had  been  regularly  read  to  him  and  his  brothers, 
all  their  lives.  He  therefore  knew  something  of  its  con- 
tents, although  wholly  ignoront  of  the  points  of  religions 
controversy,  and  now,  taking  part  in  the  conversation,  he 
very  innocently  inquired  whether  baptism  is  not  com- 
manded by  Christ.  They  both  at  once  admitted  that  of 
course  it  is.  "Well,"  said  he,  "  is  it  not  essential  to  obey 
the  commands  of  Christ?"  They  were  both  so  taken 
aback  by  this  way  of  reasoning  on  the  subject,  that  they 
made  no  direct  answer  to  the  puzzling  question.  Benja- 
min did  not  forget  the  circumstance,  and  quite  frequently 
related  it  when  discoursing  on  the  design  of  baptism. 

Joseph  Franklin  took  no  interest  after  this  in  Mr.  Rog- 
ers, until  his  sense  of  justice  awakened  his  sympathy  for 
one  who,  he  believed,  had  been  wronged.  This  motive 
at  first  led  him  to  go  regularly  to  the  meetings  ;  but  it 
was  not  long  till  a  much  deeper  interest  attracted  him. 
He  soon  learned  that  the  doctrine  was  not  what  it  had 
been  represented  to  be.  The  profound  religious  feel- 
ings of  Mr.  Rogers  impressed  him  greatly,  and  he  began 
to  see  everything  in  a  new  light. 

Early  in  December  the  preaching  began  to  show  some 
visible  results.     Benjamin  an4  Paniel    Franklin  obeyed 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  51 

the  Gospel.  A  week  later,  Benjamin's  wife  and  his 
brother  Josiah  were  baptized.  In  a  short  time  some 
thirty  or  forty  persons  became  obedient  to  the  faith. 
Among  these  were  Joseph  Franklin,  another  brother  of 
Benjamin,  and  John  I.  Rogers,  a  son  of  Samuel  Rogers. 
The  work  went  right  on  and  reached  to  the  adjoining 
settlements,  resulting  in  the  forming  of  several  other 
churches.  Early  in  the  spring,  or  perhaps  in  the  winter, 
a  church  was  formed,  and  Joseph  Franklin,  Sr.,  and  his 
wife  became  members. 

"  The  ultimate  results  of  this  revival  eternity  alone 
can  tell."  Benjamin,  Daniel,  Josiah,  and  Joseph  Frank- 
lin, and  John  I.  Rogers,  all  became  preachers. 

John  I.  Rogers  is  a  preacher  well  known  personally 
throughout  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Missouri,  and 
through  the  religious  periodicals  known  everywhere  as 
an  able  defender  of  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints.' ' 

Daniel  Franklin  still  lives,  and  preaches  regularly.  He 
is  almost  as  well  known  throughout  Eastern  Indiana  as 
his  brother  Benjamin.  He  is  thought  by  many  to  be  a 
better  speaker  than  Benjamin  was.  The  breadth  and 
depth  of  his  resources  as  a  preacher  may  be  appreciated 
when  we  state  that  he  has  been  the  regular  preacher  for 
one  church  for  seventeen  years,  closing  out  the  seven- 
teenth year  with  a  protracted  meeting,  which  brought 
into  the  church  a  large  number  of  the  leading  citizens 
of  the  community.  He  has  a  large  family,  all  Christians 
except  one  or  two,  who  are  yet  of  tender  years,  and  one 
son  a  preacher.  He  resides  on  a  farm  two  miles  from 
Middletown,  and  very  near  the  place  where  he  and  his 
brothers  were  baptized.  From  the  resources  of  his 
memory,  and  that  of   his   youngest  brother,  David,  we 


52  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP 

gather  many  of  the  facts  of  the  early  life  of  Benjamin 
Franklin. 

Josiah  Franklin  early  became  an  invalid,  and,  after  many 
years  of  sorrow  and  suffering,  went  to  his  reward  about 
the  time  of  life  when  strong  men  are  in  the  vifjor  of  their 
manhood.  He  did  not  follow  up  the  work  of  the  ministry 
very  long,  but  was  always  an  efficient  member  and  over- 
seer in  the  congregation  with  which  he  worshipped. 

Joseph  Franklin,  Jr.,  continued  to  preach  as  long  as  he 
lived,  but  divided  his  attention  and  energies  between 
preaching  and  the  practice  of  medicine.  He  died  while 
yet  a  young  man,  at  the  residence  of  Benjamin,  in  Center- 
ville,  Lid.,  whither  he  had  gone  on  a  visit.  The  circum- 
stances of  his  death  will  be  noted  elsewhere. 

At  the  time  of  the  revival  above  described,  Washing- 
ton and  David  were  not  more  than  half-way  "  through 
their  teens.' '  They  did  not  obey  the  Gospel  until  some 
years  afterward.  Washington  Franklin  preached  some 
for  a  time  and  then  turned  his  attention  to  merchandizing. 
Pie  lived  many  years  in  Middletown,  but  at  present  resides 
on  a  farm  near  Atlantic,  Iowa.  Although  he  gave  up  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  he  did  not  give  up  the  work  of 
living  a  Christian,  and  always  was  one  of  the  cverseers  in 
the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

David  Franklin  began  to  preach  soon  after  he  obeyed 
the  Gospel,  and  has  kept  it  up  ever  since.  His  method 
has  been  to  have  four  regular  monthly  appointments  for 
preaching,  and  to  spend  four  or  five  days  each  week  on 
his  farm.  He  has  just  entered  upon  his  thirty-first  an- 
nual engagement  with  one  church.  In  leisure  seasons 
he  held  many  protracted  meetings,  until  disease  and  the 
cares  of  a  large  family  drew  upon  his  energies  so  largely 
that  he  could  not  engage  in  such  work.     He  has  been 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  53 

a  great  debater,  and  has  met  in  discussion  representa- 
tives of  nearly  all  the  religious  parties  in  Eastern  Indi- 
ana, and  also  Spiritualists  and  other  skeptics.  He  resides 
on  a  farm  about  ten  miles  south-east  of  Anderson,  In- 
diana. 

The  wives  of  Joseph  Franklin,  Sr.,  and  Samuel  Rog- 
ers, and  mothers  of  the  preachers  just  named,  were  by 
no  means  silent  spectators  while  all  this  good  work  was 
going  on.  They  prayed  and  exhorted  most  fervently  in 
the  meetings  of  the  church,  and  from  house  to  house 
continually  warned  and  exhorted  both  saints  and  sinners. 
Mrs.  Franklin  was  not  always  as  "  orderly"  in  the  meet- 
ings as  her  sons  thought  she  ought  to  be.  Raised  in  the 
Methodist  Church,  where  it  was  esteemed  as  evidence  of 
a  superior  work  of  grace  to  become  *«  shouting  happy," 
and  of  that  temperament  which  renders  any  one  a  fit 
subject  of  that  sort  of  religion,  she  did  not  leave  off  her 
early  habits  until  long  after  her  youngest  son  had  become 
a  preacher.  Indeed,  it  was  with  difficulty  that  she  re- 
strained herself  throughout  the  discourse  the  first  time 
she  heard  her  grandson  preach ;  and,  while  a  song  of 
invitation  was  sung,  she  went  about  shaking  hands  with 
everybody  and  talking  as  she  went.  Her  sons  made  such 
an  ado  about  it,  and  urged  the  Scripture,  "  let  all  things 
be  done  decently  and  in  order,"  with  such  vehemence, 
that  she  gradually  left  off  shouting  while  anv  one  was 
speaking,  praying,  or  singing ;  but  when  she  was  "en- 
titled to  the  floor,"  her  exhortations  were  continually 
interrupted  with  shouts  and  ejaculations!  of  praise. 

The  meetings  were  held  for  two  years  at  the  house  of 
Joseph  Franklin,  Sr.  Mention  has  been  made  of  his  fits 
of  despondency.  If  one  of  these  happened  on  a  day  of 
meeting,  he  would  leave  the  house  and  not  return  until 


54  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OP 

the  meeting  was  adjourned  and  the  people  were  gone. 
One  Sunday  morning  he  had  gone  off  to  the  woods  to 
avoid  the  meeting.  When  the  services  were  about  hali 
over,  he  came  in  and  took  hi?  seat  among  the  brethren 
After  he  had  been  in  for  a  few  minutes,  Mr.  Rogers  called 
on  him  to  take  part  in  the  devotions.  He  arose,  and, 
without  any  attempt  at  concealment  or  palliation,  told  his 
experience  of  that  morning.  He  had  gone  off  to  the 
woods,  he  said,  so  as  not  to  be  at  the  meeting,  "  but  the 
mosquitoes  were  so  bad"  that  he  could  not  stay  out. 
In  the  effort  to  talk  to  the  church,  he  soon  rallied  and  re- 
covered his  usual  tone.  These  despondencies  were  prob- 
ably the  effect,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  physical  infirmity, 
but  thev  usually  occurred  on  this  wise :  He  was  of  a 
fractious  temper  and  sometimes  lost  his  self-control.  As 
soon  as  he  would  cool  down  from  the  excitement,  he  would 
feel  an  utter  contempt  of  himself,  and  he  would  almost 
despair.  It  is  rather  an  unusual  experience,  and  yet 
perhaps  not  so  uncommon,  if  the  secrets  of  all  hearts 
could  be  known.  Some  persons  are  capable  of  maintain- 
ing an  unruffled  exterior  when  all  is  tempestuous  within. 
But  it  was  not  so  with  Joseph  Franklin,  Sr.  He  never 
made  any  effort,  apparently,  to  dissemble  his  real  feelings. 

The  young  members  brought  in  by  this  revival  were 
nearly  all  more  or  less  active  in  the  congregation,  and 
eight  of  them  became  preachers. 

We  cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than  by  an  extract 
from  a  chapter  of  reminiscences  by  John  I.  Rogers,  fur- 
nished to  the  Apostolic  Times  on  hearing  of  the  death  of 
Benjamin  Franklin.  After  giving  the  facts  substantially 
as  above,  he  adds : 

"  The  young  Franklins  began  to  assist  in  the  meetings 
by  prayers  and  exhortations,  which  made  a  profound  im- 
pression upon  all  who  heard  them. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  55 

"  This  revival  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  hundreds  of 
souls ;  eight  of  whom  became  preachers  of  the  Gospel. 
Four  of  the  Franklins  and  the  writer  of  this  sketch  were 
of  the  number.  If  such  results  followed  from  the  uniting 
of  the  heads  of  two  families,  what  might  be  accomplished 
if  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jeasus  Christ  were  united  into 
one  body? 

"Joseph  Franklin,  Sr.,  was  a  good  man,  but  he  was 
not  at  all  times  happy.  He  gave  way  to  feelings  of  des- 
pondency which  at  times  made  him  very  unhappy.  My 
mother  described  him  as  dwelling  either  in  the  garret  or 
the  cellar.  Sister  Franklin  was  always  cheerful  and  hope- 
ful, and  when  her  husband  was  not  in  a  happy  frame  of 
mind,  she  would,  at  his  suggestion,  lead  in  the  family 
devotions.  I  have  heard  her  often  make  prayers  that 
wTould  melt  every  one  to  tears — and  prajers  so  fervent 
and  eloquent,  that  I  became  ashamed  of  my  own  poor, 
weak  attempts  to  talk  to  my  heavenly  Father. 

14  At  our  meetings  she  and  my  mother  used  to  offer  in- 
variably the  best  prayers,  and  deliver  the  best  exhorta- 
tions ;  at  least,  so  brother  Ben.  and  I  thought.  I  sup- 
pose that  such  things  would  not  be  tolerated  now;  never- 
theless I  should  not  wonder  if  things  are  tolerated  at  the 
present  day  not  near  so  creditable  to  the  church,  nor  half 
so  much  calculated  to  incline  the  hearts  of  the  children 
to  the  service  of  the  Lord,  as  the  earnest  prayers  and 
plain  but  touching  exhortations  of  our  Christian  mothers. 

"  From  the  day  brother  Ben.  Franklin  confessed  Christ, 
he  began  to  exhort  sinners  and  to  speak  in  defense  of  the 
truth,  both  in  public  and  in  private.  He  carried  his  Tes- 
tament with  him  everywhere, *and  having  a  ready  recol- 
lection, he  soon  treasured  up  its  contents.  His  zeal  for 
the  Master's  cause  knew  no  bounds.     On  one  occasion  he 


56  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES   OP 

attended  a  Methodist  camp-meeting,  and  greatly  annoyed 
the  preachers  by  taking  notes  of  their  discourses,  and 
looking  now  and  then  into  his  New  Testament  to  see  if 
they  had  not  misquoted  the  Scripture.  This  I  think  was 
the  summer  after  his  conversion.  About  the  same  time 
he  was  challenged  to  debate  some  question  which  I  have 
forgotten,  and  I  cannot  now  recall  any  of  the  circumstan- 
ces, except  that  he  had  me  to  represent  his  adversary  a 
few  days  before  the  debate  was  to  take  place  ;  his  brothers, 
Daniel  and  Joseph,  being  our  moderators.  I  distinctly 
remember,  however,  that  I  came  off  second  best.  In  com- 
pany with  his  brothers,  I  often  visited  him,  when  it  was 
our  invariable  custom  to  read  the  Scriptures,  sing  some 
stirring  song  of  praise,  and  offer  prayers  to  God.  Ke- 
ligion  was  his  theme,  morning,  noon  and  night.  Some- 
times he  retired  to  the  deep  forest  to  find  hours  for 
undisturbed  prayer. 

"His  first  written  production  was  a  contribution  to  the 
Heretic  Detector,  a  periodical  edited  by  the  lamented 
Crkhfield,  then  of  Middleburg,  Ohio.  I  read  it  with  much 
interest.  As  well  as  I  can  remember,  it  was  an  earnest 
exhortation  to  sinners  to  turn  to  God,  by  all  the  motives 
of  heaven  and  the  terrors  of  hell.  This  article  must  have 
been  written  about  two  months  after  he  united  with  the 
Church."*  During  the  summer  (1S37,)  I  accompanied 
him  to  his  first  appointment,  which  was  at  a  private  house, 
some  four  miles  from  his  own  house.  His  text  was  Luke 
ix.,  35  :  'This  is  my  beloved  Son :  hear  ye  him.'  How 
prophetic  was  his  subject  that  day  of  what  was  to  be  his 
theme  during  the  remaining  forty  years  of  his  Christian 
ministry  I 

*  It  was  about  eighteen  montbs.       J.  F. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  57 

"At  the  close  of  his  discourse  he  invited  me  to  speak,  but 
my  heart  failed  me.  He  then  called  on  his  brother  Daniel, 
who  responded  in  a  few  remarks.  In  all  my  associations 
with  Brother  Franklin,  there  was  but  one  thing:  which 
rendered  his  company  the  least  unpleasant  to  me,  which 
was  the  fact  that  his  burning  zeal  administered  to  me  con- 
stant reproof.  He  outstripped  me  so  far  in  endeavors  to 
save  sinners  that  I  was  ashamed  of  myself.  He  would  pro- 
pose some  plan  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  desired  end, 
and  before  I  had  fairly  adjusted  myself  to  the  scheme,  he 
had  the  work  half  done.  He  left  no  space  for  dodging 
between  the  resolution  and  the  execution.  He  would  say, 
'Let  us  do  this,'  and  by  the  time  he  had  fairly  pronounced 
the  words  he  was  at  work.  In  the  beginning  I  had  the 
advantage  of  him  in  the  way  of  general  reading,  and  I  sup- 
pose my  education  was  something  better  than  his  ;  yet  he 
ventured  freely  upon  ground  that  I  was  too  cowardly  to 
occupy.  He  urged  me  to  employ  myself  more  actively  in 
trying  to  save  sinners.  My  answer  was,  that  when  I  had 
prepared  ni3Tself,  I  intended  to  devote  my  life  to  preach- 
ing the  Gospel.  He  said  in  reply,  *  You  know  enough 
now  to  tell  a  poor  sinner  how  to  be  saved,  and  work  will  so 
stimulate  your  mind  that  you  will  gather  up  more  knowl- 
edge, as  you  proceed  in  the  Master's  cause,  than  you  can 
get  in  the  same  time  at  any  school  in  the  country. ■ 

"Soon  after  this  our  paths  diverged,  he  going  on  his  way 
working  and  studying,  and  I  on  mine,  idling  and  half 
studying ;  so  that,  when  we  next  met,  he  was  more  than  a 
head  and  shoulders  above  me  in  knowledge,  and  I  was  far- 
ther from  being  ready  to  preach  than  ever. 

"A  few  months  after  this,  I  visited  a  friend  in  Wilmin^- 

7  J3 

ton,  Ohio,  during  the  progress  of  a  very  interesting  meet- 
ing which  was  being  conducted  by  Walter  Scott,  who  was 


58  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN. 

then  in  his  prime.  From  some  cause  I  was  hindered 
from  attending  the  meeting  on  a  certain  day;  and  when 
the  family  returned  from  church,  they  informed  me  that  I 
had  missed  hearing  the  best  sermon  of  the  whole  meeting. 
"Why,"  said  I,  "did  Brother  Scott  surpass  the  sermon  he 
made  on  Sunday  morning?"  "O,  it  was  not  Brother 
Scott,"  answered  they,  "but  Brother  Ben.  Franklin  from 
Indiana."  I  was  not  long  in  joining  the  company  of  my 
brother  Ben.  I  found  him  surrounded  by  old  brethren 
who  had  followed  him  to  his  lodgings  for  the  purpose  of 
drawing  from  his  rich  storehouse  treasures  of  knowledge. 
"This  occurred,  I  believe,  in  the  autumn  of  1841." 


CHAPTER  V. 


€) 


EOPLE  sometimes  solemnly  and  erroneously  "dedi- 
-L  cate  a  house  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God,"  and 
then  in  a  few  years,  unceremoniously  desecrate  the 
same  building  to  a  store,  a  shop,  or  a  stable  for  cattle,  be- 
cause they  want  a  finer  one.  So  men  are  sometimes  sol- 
emnly and  ceremoniously  "  ordained  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry  ;  "  but  in  a  few  j'ears,  finding  a  great  deal  of  hard 
work  and  deprivation,  with  but  small  pecuniary  reward, 
they  unceremoniously  set  aside  the  solemn  "ordination, " 
and  go  into  law,  medicine,  or  anything  that  promises  to 
pay  them  better.  Benjamin  Franklin  had  a  "consecration 
to  the  ministry"  that  could  not  be  set  aside.  It  was  an 
ordination  involving  the  principle  that  "the  righteousness 
of  God  is  revealed  in  the  Gospel  from  faith  in  order  to 
faith,"  or,  as  elsewhere  stated  by  the  same  apostle,  that, 
"it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save 
them  that  believe."  He  believed  the  Gospel,  and,  as  a 
believer,  felt  an  overpowering  impulse  to  tell  the  truth  to 
any  who  would  hear  him,  that  they  also  might  believe. 
And,  as  already  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  he  at 
once  began  to  preach,  and  he  never  stopped  for  anything 
but  serious  sickness  of  himself  or  family.  At  first  it  was 
only  an  effort  to  "exhort"  a  little  at  the  regular  meetings 
of  the  church,  or  after  some  one  else  had  preached.  Then 
an  appointment  to  preach  somewhere  at  night,  in  some 
school-house,  or  in  some  private  dwelling,  was  ventured 
upon.  To  these  appointments  he  would  often  walk,  three, 
four,  or  five  miles,  after  a  hard  day's  work.  Two  or  three 
of  the  young  preachers  generally  met  together  and  united 
in  the  exercises  of  the  meeting.  And  thus,  gradually,  he 
directed  the  forces  of  his  mind  and  body  to  the  work,  un- 


60  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

til  he  lost  his  interest  in  all  other  employments.  Four 
years  after  his  obedience  to  the  Gospel  he  sold  out  the  mill 
property,  and  was  never  afterward  engaged  in  any  regular 
secular  business.  For  one  or  two  seasons  he  farmed  in  a 
small  way  upon  rented  ground. 

These  early  efforts  were  not  of  the  most  encouraging 
character,  by  any  means.  He  was  so  deficient  in  educa- 
tion, and  made  so  many  blunders,  that  some  of  the  elder 
brethren  talked  discouragingly  to  him  about  trying  to  be- 
come a  preacher.     John  Longley,*  one  of  the  oldest  of 


*  Mr.  Longley  was  born  in  New  York  city  on  the  13lh  of  June,  1782.  His 
parents  were  devout  members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  In  1790  the  family  em- 
igrated to  the  then  Far  West,  and  settled  at  Washington,  Mason  county,  Ken- 
tucky. The  Indians  were  very  troublesome,  and  the  people  lived  in  a  con- 
stant state  of  alarm.  At  eighteen,  John  went  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  tanner. 
Soon  after,  he  became  the  subject  of  some  deep  religious  feelings,  which  so  af- 
fected his  conduct  that  his  rude  companions,  in  their  mockery,  said  he  was 
good  enough  to  be  baptized,  and  would  probably  have  dipped  him  in  a  tan-vat, 
had  he  not,  by  a  vigorous  hair-pulling,  compelled  the  "boss,"  who  was  the 
leader  in  the  rudeness,  to  beg  for  mercy.  In  1801  he  gave  in  a  satisfactory 
"experience,"  and  was  immersed  in  the  Ohio  river.  In  1805,  after  another 
fearful  experience  in  deciding  whether  he  was  called  to  preach,  he  was  licensed 
by  a  Baptist  Association.  Like  many  preachers  of  that  generation,  however, 
he  could  not  accept  the  standards  of  his  church,  and  soon  fell  out  with  their 
Calvinism.  '  Gradually  freeing  his  mind  from  the  old  doctrines,  he  finally  in 
the  year  1810,  on  removing  from  one  place  to  another,  took  with  him  a  Baptist 
letter,  but  deposited  it  in  a  congregation  of  the  Christian  connection.  When 
the  union  between  the  two  communities  of  Reformers,  (described  in  chapter 
iii.)  took  place,  he  went  into  it  with  all  his  soul.  He  was  a  most  zealous  and 
untiring  evangelist.  He  preached  extensively  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Ken- 
tucky. Moved  once  into  Ohio,  thence  back  to  Kentucky,  thence,  in  1830,  to 
Rush  county,  Indiana.  Here  he  struggled  on  as  a  preacher,  against  great  dis- 
couragements. Attempting  to  help  his  family  to  more  of  the  comforts  of  life 
than  a  preacher's  salary  would  afford,  he  opened  a  small  store.  The  business 
was  unfortunate,  and  about  the  time  of  the  revival  in  Henry  county,  under 
Samuel  Rogers,  he  moved  to  Yorktown,  Delaware  county,  about  twelve  miles 
north  of  the  Deer  Creek  Church,  where  he  re-ided  at  the  time  of  which  we 
now  write,  and  when  he  was  a  preacher  of  over  thirty  years'  experience. 
From  Yorktown  he  removed  to  Noblesville  in  1840.  Four  years  later  he  went 
to  Lafayette,  Indiana,  where  he  resided  until  his  death  in  18G3.  He  was  mar- 
ried three  times,  and  was  the  father  of  twenty-five  children,  living  to  survive 
all  but  six  of  them.  We  preserved  an  account  of  the  persons  he  baptized  un- 
til the  number  reached  eight  thousand. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  61 

Indiana's  pioneer  preachers,  then  resident  at  Yorktown, 
Indiana,  often  met  with  the  young  Franklins.  In  1859  and 
1860  the  writer  resided  in  Lafayette,  Indiana.  Mr.  Long- 
ley  was  still  living,  and  told  with  great  glee  a  number  of  in- 
cidents illustrating  the  unpromising  character  of  Benjamin 
Franklin's  early  efforts  at  preaching,  from  which  we  select 
the  following  :  "He  had  a  great  fashion  of  saying,  *  My 
dear  friends  and  brethering.  '  Yes,"  said  the  venerable 
Longley,  "  he  always  put  the  *ing'  to  it,  in  those  days. 
He  used  the  expression  a  great  many  times  in  every  ser- 
mon, so  often  indeed,  that  it  was  tiresome,  and  some  of  us 
took  him  to  task  about  it.  He  doubted  whether  it  was 
true  that  he  used  it  'in  season  and  out  of  season,'  as  we 
had  accused  him.  So,  one  day  when  he  began  a  sermon, 
I  got  a  piece  of  paper  and  a  pin,  and  every  time  he  said, 
*My  dear  friends  and  brethering,'  I  stuck  a  hole  in  the  pa- 
per. After  meeting  we  counted  the  holes  in  the  paper, 
and  there  were  a  hundred  and  fifty !  But  la  me  !"  con- 
tinued the  old  man,  after  a  hearty  laugh,  and  a  few  puffs 
at  his  favorite  pipe,  "it  was  not  long  till  he  shot  past  all 
of  us."  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  in  estimating 
the  frequent  recurrence  of  this  expression,  that  the  servi- 
ces of  those  days  were  "lengthened  sweetness,  long  drawn 
out."  An  hour  and  a  half  to  two  hours  were  the  custom- 
ary limits. 

At  the  same  meeting  where  this  occurred,  another  young 
preacher  made  the  opening  prayer  and  protracted  it  to  an 
unreasonable  length.  After  a  good  laugh  at  Mr.  Frank- 
lin, the  dreaded  critic  turned  to  the  preacher  who  had 

made  the  long  prayer,  and  said  :     "  Brother ,  you 

have  not  prayed  any  for  about  a  month,  have  you?" 
"Why,"  said  the  astonished  young  man,  "what  makes  you 
think  so?"     "Because,"  answered  Mr.  Longley,   "you 


62  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

prayed  so  long  at  church  to-day,  that  I  thought  you  must 
be  about  a  month  behind  with  your  prayers."  These  sal- 
lies were  made  in  such  a  kindly  spirit,  and  accompanied 
with  such  fraternal  suggestions,  that,  though  he  was  much 
dreaded  as  a  critic,  he  was  still  venerated  and  beloved  by 
all  the  young  preachers  with  whom  he  came  into  contact. 
It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
either  blind  or  oblivious  to  his  defects.  He  knew  them 
as  well  as  anybody,  and  felt  greatly  embarrassed  by  them. 
When  he  had  become  an  old  man,  and  had  such  a  great 
name,  and  such  a  weight  of  influence  that  he  could  afford 
to  laugh  at  the  little  spite  which  sometimes  criticised  him 
in  this  regard,  he  was  still  sensitive  to  it,  though  he  had 
sense  and  experience  enough  not  to  appear  to  be  moved 
by  it.  But  he  was  never  so  super-sensitive  as  to  surren- 
der his  chosen  work  because  of  it.  He  regarded  it  as  a 
difficulty  that  could  be  overcome,  and  with  all  the  forces 
of  his  strong  will,  he  set  to  work  to  learn  at  twenty-seven 
what  most  children  now-a-days  learn  at  school  ere  they 
are  fifteen  years  of  age.  Copies  of  Kirkham's  Grammar, 
Olney's  Geography,  and  Talbot's  Arithmetic,  bearing  the 
thumb-marks  of  studious  use,  remained  in  his  small  but 
steadily  growing  library,  late  enough  for  his  older  children 
to  remember  them  well.  Indeed  his  eldest  can  now  recall 
him  as  he  sat,  day  after  day,  poring  over  the  then  myste- 
rious volumes.  That  his  studies  in  these  books  were  not 
fruitless,  was  evidenced  in  the  assistance  he  was  able  to 
render  his  children  in  their  primary  studies  at  school. 
But  the  schooling  that  profited  him  most  he  obtained  in  a 
very  different  way.  It  was  like  the  drill  of  many  soldiers 
in  the  late  war.  A  regiment  formed  at  Anderson,  Indi- 
ana, within  one  month  after  its  organization,  went  into  the 
Rattle  at  Richmond,  Kentucky,  alongside  of  veterans.     It 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  63 

may  not  have  greatly  increased  the  efficiency  of  the  army 
but  the  fighting  of  that  battle  probably  drilled  these  sol- 
diers more  in  the  essentials  of  soldiery  than  any  month 
of  drill  on  a  parade  ground  could  have  done.  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  a  raw  recruit,  fisditinsr  in  "the  good  fight  of 
faith"  alongside  of  such  veterans  as  Longley,  Crihfield, 
Scott  and  Campbell.  He  listened  to  and  read  after  these 
men,  not  merely  to  grasp  their  thoughts,  but  to  learn  their 
language.  If  a  foreigner  should  come  to  this  country  be- 
ing ignorant  of  our  language,  he  would  note  our  grammat- 
ical and  rhetorical  forms  with  such  care  as  not  merely  to 
understand  them,  but  to  be  able  to  use  them  in  communi- 
cating with  us.  So  Mr.  Franklin  studied  the  language  of 
those  to  whom  he  listened  and  after  whom  he  read. 

Language  learned  in  this  way  is  like  music  learned  by 
ear.  It  will  not  bear  the  test  of  severe  criticism — it  is 
often  inaccurate  ;  but  it  quite  as  often  has  a  freedom  and 
naturalness  that,  under  the  professors,  can  only  be  attained 
under  the  very  highest  degree  of  culture.  It  is  certain 
that,  while  Mr.  Franklin's  language  was  not  always  criti- 
cally accurate,  it  was  so  simple  and  easy  that  he  never  failed 
to  instruct  and  entertain  the  people  ;  and  it  is  equally  cer- 
tain that  we  have  hundreds  of  good  scholars  who  cannot 
compare  with  him  at  all  in  this  respect. 

Early  in  September,  1840,  Mr.  Franklin  sold  his  mill 
property  in  which  he  had  invested  his  farm.  The  milling 
business  did  not  prosper.  It  was  carried  on  during  the 
financial  depression  which  followed  the  crash  of  1837. 
Money  could  scarcely  be  had  at  all,  and  people  were  com- 
pelled to  reduce  all  expenses  within  the  narrowest  possible 
limits.  Besides  this,  he  was  gradually  turning  his  ener- 
gies to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  perhaps  did  not 
study  his  business  and  push  it  forward  with  the  energy 


64 


THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 


necessary  to  insure  success  under  discouraging  circumstan- 
ces. The  purchasers  of  the  mill  failed,  and  he  not  only 
lost  his  investment,  but  came  out  three  hundred  dollars  in 
debt.  This  debt  was  money  he  held  as  guardian  for  some 
heirs.  When  the  heirs  became  of  age,  he  paid  to  them  the 
sum  of  six  hundred  dollars,  including  principal  and  inter- 
est. 

Six  weeks  after  he  left  the  mill,  his  wife  gave  birth 
to  twins.  He  now  had  a  family  of  six  children  to 
support.  Out  of  business,  burdened  by  a  debt  which  was 
fearful  for  the  times,  unable  to  hire  as  a  carpenter  or  even 
as  wood-chopper  or  grubber,  having  no  team  or  tools  to 
work  with  if  he  had  rented  a  farm,  and  no  salary  for  a 
young  preacher  to  lean  upon,  the  prospect  was  gloomy 
enough  to  make  a  strong  man  tremble.  The  only  relief 
under  the  appalling  circumstances  was  in  the  habits  of  the 
pioneers,  as  all  articles  essential  to  the  subsistence  of  a 
family  were  exceedingly  cheap.  Flour  and  meat  could  be 
bought  at  seventy-five  cents  per  hundred  pounds.  Flan- 
nel, jeans,  "linsey-woolsey,"  and  a  coarse  kind  of  linen, 
were  woven  by  most  families  at  home,  the  material  being 
the  product  of  their  own  industry,  and  any  surplus  of  such 
articles  was  used  in  lieu  of  money. 

How  they  came  through  this  dreadful  crisis  of  their  lives 
neither  he  nor  his  surviving  companion  cared  to  recount. 
He  worked  whenever  he  could  get  employment,  and  re- 
ceived occasionally  small  donations  as  a  preacher.  The 
family  lived  as  families  can,  when  necessity  is  upon  them, 
without  any  luxuries,  and  upon  a  meagre  supply  of  the 
comforts  of  life. 

His  poverty  led  to  frequent  removals  after  leaving  the 
mill.  Three  times  within  two  years  he  moved  from  one 
Jiouse  to  another  in  the  same  neighborhood,  still  pieaching 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  65 

wherever  he  could  find  an  open  field,  but  with  no  regular 
appointments  anywhere. 

In  1840  he  held  a  public  discussion  with  one  Eaton  Da- 
vis, a  United  Brethren  preacher.  The  debate  was  held  in 
a  grove  some  miles  east  of  the  Deer  Creek  settlement, 
near  what  is  now  Honey  Creek  station,  on  the  Logansport 
and  Richmond  branch  of  the  Pan  Handle  Railroad.  It  was 
probably  his  first  regular  debate.  An  old  gentleman,  a 
member  of  Mr.  Davis'  church,  attended ;  but  as  soon  as 
his  own  preacher  had  done  speaking  he  wandered  off  into 
the  woods  out  of  hearing  while  Mr.  Franklin  made  his 
speeches.  At  the  close  of  each  session  he  would  go  Tor- 
ward,  shake  hands  with  Mr.  Franklin,  and  say,  "  Well, 
Benjamin,  you  have  made  a  complete  failure  this  time." 

In  these  first  years  of  his  public  ministry  he  showed  his 
inclination  to  become  a  traveling  evangelist  rather  than  a 
local  preacher.  Indeed,  in  later  years,  when  he  did  make 
stated  engagements,  he  was  continually  begging  off  some 
part  of  his  time  to  go  elsewhere  and  hold  protracted  meet- 
ings. On  one  occasion,  accompanied  by  his  brother  Dan- 
iel, he  made  a  tour  on  horseback  northward  to  Wabash- 
town,  thence  down  the  river  to  Logansport,  and  thence  by 
another  route  homeward.  They  preached  somewhere  on 
their  course  every  night,  and  at  one  or  two  places  remained 
some  days.  At  another  time,  Benjamin  made  a  tour  to 
Eastern  Ohio,  into  the  county  where  he  was  bornand  raised, 
to  visit  the  acquaintances  of  his  boyhood  and  youth.  He 
continued  to  have  a  succession  of  appointments  along  his 
route  so  as  to  preach  at  least  once  each  day  while  on  the 
journey.     This  trip  was  also  made  on  horseback. 

His  brother  Daniel,  on  the  contrary,  seemed  always 
inclined  to  settled  work  as  near  home  as  possible.  A 
long-continued  affliction  of  his  first  wife  may  have  had 


66  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES   OP 

something  to  do  with  the  formation  of  this  habit.  He 
located  id  the  northern  part  of  Madison  county,  about 
twelve  miles  from  Anderson,  the  county  town,  and  built 
a  mill  on  Pipe  creek.  He  then  selected  four  points,  vis- 
ited each  one  monthly,  and  in  this  way  built  up  four  good 
churches  within  a  few  years.  While  he  operated  in  this 
field  he  was  frequently  assisted  in  protracted  meetings  by 
Benjamin,  and  as  frequently  went  to  aid  Benjamin  at  points 
in  which  he  was  interested.  The  co-labors  of  the  brothers 
thus  continued  uninterrupted  until  Benjamin  went  to 
Cincinnati. 

In  the  spring  of  1842,  Mr.  Franklin  moved  to  New 
Lisbon,  Henry  county,  Indiana.  This  village  is  located 
ten  miles  south-east  of  Newcastle,  the  county  town,  and 
near  twenty  miles  from  the  Deer  Creek  settlement:  He 
remained  here  something  less  than  two  years,  preaching 
regularly  for  the  church  in  New  Lisbon  and  visiting  several 
other  points  frequently  but  not  regularly.  During  his 
residence  here  he  held  a  public  discussion  with  George  W. 
McCane,  a  Universalist  preacher.  This  discussion  is  now 
a  matter  of  no  especial  interest  except  that  one  of  the 
parties  was  a  man  who  has  since  become  known  and  dis- 
tinguished among  the  Disciples.  His  co-laborers  in  the 
ministry  while  here  were  John  Shortridge  and  Samuel 
Hendricks,  both  then  following  the  more  common  custom 
of  "preaching  for  nothing  and  finding  themselves. " 
•Their  work  was  confined  to  irregular  appointments  within 


*Both  had  learned  to  speak  in  the  kind  of  sing-song  tone  which  was  then 
quite  current,  and  without  which  many  people  thought  a  man  had  not 
"  preached  at  all."  Mr.  H.  would  continue  in  that  tone  until  nearly  ex. 
hausted,  and  then,  placing  his  hands  to  his  head  as  if  to  hold  it  from  bursting, 
he  would  slide  down  from  his  preacher's  tone  to  the  natural  key  of  his  voice 
on  the  sentence :  "  My  head  aches-ah  1  My  brethren,  I  say  my  head  aches- 
ah,  and  I  can't  preach  any  longer-ah,  so  we'll  conclude  by  singing  a  hymn-ah." 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  67 

easy  reach  of  their  farms.  Mr.  Shortridge  some  years 
later  removed  to  Milton,  in  Wayne  county,  and  took  some 
transient  interest  in  the  periodical  which  Mr.  Franklin 
was  publishing,  but  did  not  long  continue  in  connection 
with  the  paper.  He  still  survives,  full  of  years  and  infirmi- 
ties ;  but  a  man  of  God,  and  strong  in  the  faith,  waiting 
for  the  redemption  of  the  Lord's  people. 

In  less  than  two  years,  Mr.  Franklin,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  true  itinerant,  gathered  his  household  goods  and  his 
family  together  upon  two  or  three  farm  wagons,  and 
moved  eastward,  to  the  place  where  the  village  of  Bethel 
now  stands,  and  about  twelve  miles  north  of  Richmond, 
Indiana,  The  village  owes  its  name  to  the  old  Bethel 
church,  which  stood  there  thirty-four  years  ago.  This 
church  is  known  in  Eastern  Indiana  as  the  home  of  Hosea 
Tilson  and  Elihu  Harlan,  who  were  two  'of  that  noble 
host  of  pioneers  who  established  the  Reformation  in  the 
West,  coming  and  going,  preaching  and  baptizing,  with- 
out remuneration.  The  criticisms  passed  upon  these  pio- 
neers, indulged  in  by  some  of  the  late  younger  preachers, 
is  as  unwise  as  it  is  selfish  and  unjust.  Had  these  older 
men  refused  to  preach  unless  paid  for  their  services,  many 
of  the  churches  which  now  keep  these  same  pert  critics 
on  full-pay  and  half-work,  would  never  have  had  au  exist- 
ence.    Instead  of  beins:  sneered  at  for  their  want  of  lite- 


Many  years  after  this  residence  at  "  Jimtown,"  as  we  then  called  New  Lisbon, 
I  lived  near,  and  often  met,  Mr.  Shortridge.  In  one  of  our  familiar  conversa- 
tions he  related  to  me  that  after  he  had  preached  there  several  year3  one  of 
the  brethren  called  him  around  the  meeting  house  on  a  certain  Lord's  day 
morning,  and  said  to  him :  "  Brother  Shortridge,  you  have  preached  for  us  a 
long  time  and  never  got  anything  for  it,  as  I  suppose.  I  don't  think  it  is  fair, 
and  I  for  one  feel  like  paying  you  something."  He  then  drew  out  his  pocket- 
book,  overhauled  a  lot  of  change,  selected  out  twtnty-five  cents,  aud  gave  it 
to  him. 


68  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

rary  culture,  they  are  to  be  highly  honored  as  noble  and 
self-sacrificing  men,  who  planted  the  truth  in  this  country 
when  no  one  could  be  found  to  undertake  the  work  but 
them. 

While  residing  in  Bethel,  Mr.  Franklin  pushed  his  ac- 
quaintance into  Western  Ohio.  His  appointments  were 
still  scattered  very  considerably,  the  pay  was  small  and 
irregular,  and  poverty  still  haunted  the  poor  tenements 
which  afforded  shelter  to  his  family.  He  now  had  six 
children.  A  seventh  was  born  at  New  Lisbon,  but  one  of 
the  twins  had  died.  Anxious  to  better  his  temporal  con- 
dition, and  believing  that  he  now  had  opportunity  to  do 
so,  he  again  gathered  his  effects  together  and  moved  to 
Centerville,  then  the  county  seat  of  Wayne  county,  In- 
diana.    This  was  in  the  autumn  of  1844. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  limited  salary  of  the 
pioneer  preachers.  Sometimes  the  pay  was  tendered  in  a 
shape  that  tried  the  patience  of  the  preacher's  wife  to  the 
last  degree.  At  one  of  the  points  during  these  numerous 
removals,  it  was  arranged  that  one  of  the  brethren  would 
furnish  Mr.  Franklin  a  house  to  live  in,  and  the  members 
of  the  church  were  to  bring  in  provisions  as  they  might 
be  needed.  The  house  was  a  dilapidated  cabin  in  an  out- 
of-the-way  place.  At  M  hog-killing  time,"  many  thought 
of  their  preacher.  Back-bones  very  neatly  trimmed, 
spare-ribs  (very  spare  indeed),  and  uncleaned  heads  and 
feet,  came  in  such  abundance  that  the  wife  and  mother,  al- 
ready weary  and  half  sick,  was  thoroughly  disgusted.  The 
itinerant  preacher  had  no  smoke-house,  nor  even  a  meat- 
barrel.  The  overplus  of  these  bones  was  turned  to  a  good 
account  in  making  soap.  A  sister,  possessed  in  a  high 
degree  of  "  the  gift  of  tongue,"  visited  the  family  fre- 
quently, and  as  often  reported  the  state  of  things  at  the 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  69 

preacher's  house  to  the  whole  neighborhood.     When  she 
learned  of  the  soap-making  out  of  the  bones,  she  had  two 
adverse  criticisms  to  report  at  large.     In  the  first  place, 
the  family  had  been  over-supplied  with  food,  so  that  it 
spoiled  on  their  hands ;   and,  in   the   second  place,  the 
preacher,  who   ought  to  be  constantly  "  laboring  for  the 
good  of  souls,"  or  studying  to  prepare  himself,  was  idling 
away  his  time  over  a  soap-kettle.     For  her  part,  she  said, 
she  "  didn't  see  why  some  women  had  to  be  waited  on  so 
much,  any  way."     This  report  had  a  decidedly  damaging 
effect,  and   as  the  surplus  at  their  own  homes  was  not  so 
great  after  '«  hog-killing  time  "  had  passed  by,  but  little 
more  was  sent  in  for  the  preacher's  table.     But  the  dark 
clouds  sometimes  have  a  "silver  lining,"  and  this  dreary 
picture  in  the  life  of  a  pioneer  preacher's  wife  was  relieved 
bv  the   ministrations  of  a  ffood    ansjel    in  the  form  of   a 
woman,  who  had  not  contributed  until  after  the  first  rush 
was  over,  her  good  judgment  telling  her  that  help  would 
be   needed    after  a  while.     Then   she    came  with  nicely- 
trimmed  hams,  sausages  and  fresh    beef,  and  with  all  a 
tender  of  heart-felt  sympathy  that  went  to  the  suffering 
mothers  heart  and  unsealed  the  fountain  of  tears.     Oh,  if 
people  could  only  realize  what  comfort  it  is  in  their  power 
to  minister  to  the    suffering   and  sorrowing,  they  might 
often   enjoy  a  rich   experience  of  the  truth  that  '*it  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

Such  darning  and  patching,  turning  and  shifting,  as 
were  necessary  to  make  the  meagre  income  satisfy  the 
actual  wants  of  the  family,  cannot  be  described.  The  situ- 
ation can  only  be  comprehended  by  the  wife  and  mother 
who  has  gone  through  the  trying  ordeal.  The  preacher 
himself,  away  from  home  much  of  the  time,  and  in  the 
society  of  brethren  ready  to  do  all  that  can  be  done  to 


70  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

make  him  comfortable,  has  comparatively  an  easy  time. 
Still,  if  he  has  the  heart  of  an  affectionate  husband  and 
father,  it  sends  a  thrill  of  distress  through  his  soul  as  he 
sits  down  to  a  table  groaning  under  all  the  luxuries  of  the 
land,  to  remember  the  scanty  supply  on  the  table  spread 
for  his  wife  and  children  at  home.  Many  a  day  did  the 
wife  of  Benjamin  Franklin  apportion  the  scanty  supply 
left  to  keep  the  family  during  his  absence  so  as  to  make  it 
"  reach  over,"  and  divide  out  the  little  amount  she  dared 
to  put  on  the  table  at  one  time,  so  that  each  one  of  the 
hungry  children  should  have  his  proper  share.  Many  a 
time,  when  the  little  ones  had  lost  all  memory  of  their 
deprivations  in  refreshing  sleep,  has  that  patient  woman 
sat  up  and  overhauled  their  clothing,  stitching,  stitching 
far  into  the  night,  that  the  little  ones  should  have  more 
comfort  the  next  day — sat  there  alone,  and  in  a  silence 
unbroken  save  by  the  deep  breathing  of  her  sleeping 
children  and  her  own  deep  sighings.  Hers  was  a  noble 
nature.  Many  a  woman,  under  such  an  experience,  has 
either  sickened  and  died  prematurely,  or,  living,  become 
pettish  and  melancholy,  so  that  neither  she  nor  her  child- 
ren or  husband  could  ever  be  happy.  But  Mrs.  Mary 
Franklin,  left  alone  more  than  half  the  time  for  many 
years,  living  often  in  some  out-of-the-way  place  for  eco- 
nomy's sake,  destitute  of  luxuries,  and  often  but  poorly 
supplied  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  cut  off  almost  entirely 
from  society,  continued  patiently  enduring  all  for  husband 
and  children's  sake,  for  Jesus'  sake,  keeping  up  her  spirits 
and  living  in  hope,  until,  in  God's  good  providence,  a 
better  day  should  come.  Tears  she  shed — many  bitter 
tears  of  sorrow  and  deprivation  at  her  forlorn  and  almost 
widowed  condition.  But  they  were  wiped  away  in  time 
to  dress,  wash  and  feed  the  little  ones  who  prattled  around 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  71 

her,  and,  no  doubt,  often  comforted  her  by  their  artless 
prat t lings.  Many  a  time  has  her  eldest  boy  stopped  in 
his  childish  pursuits  and  gazed  upon  her  countenance  as 
she  sat  looking  afar  off  through  the  window,  yet  evidently 
seeing  nothing  with  the  natural  eye,  and  wondered  what 
she  could  be  thinking  of — was  she  sad?  The  quick  ma- 
ternal feeling  would  catch  the  gaze,  and,  after  engaging 
her  son  in  a  few  words  of  conversation  suited  to  his  child- 
hood, would  bid  him  go  and  play  again  ;  then,  turning  her 
head  away,  would  wipe  the  unbidden  tears  from  her  eyes. 
The  son  would  sometimes  see  that,  too,  and  go  away  more 
bewildered  than  ever. 

Many  years  have  passed  away.  The  father  has  gone  to 
be  with  Christ ;  the  mother,  a  partial  paralytic,  still  lives  ; 
the  son,  now  just  past  the  meridian  of  life,  and  trying  to 
transcribe  these  scenes  for  the  edification  and  comfort  of 
Christian  mothers,  goes  to  her  for  the  details,  and  sees 
that  same  old  look.  It  is  better  understood  now.  The 
dear,  good  soul,  who  was  so  patient  with  her  children  then, 
would  think  of  their  absent  father  and  long  for  the  day  of 
his  return.  She  now  waits  no  longer  for  his  return,  but 
for  the  day  when  she  may  go  to  him. 

God  bless  her  last  days  on  earth  !  If  there  be  brighter 
crowns  in  heaven,  they  will  grace  the  brows  of  such  moth- 
ers. If  there  be  apartments  where  there  is  more  fullness 
of  joy,  they  will  be  allotted  to  those  patient  mothers  who 
went  down  through  the  dark  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death 
wdiile  their  husbands  were  abroad  preaching  the  good 
tidings  of  great  joy  to  a  sin-cursed  race  !  Nine  children 
have  arisen  to  call  her  blessed,  to  bear  her  on  their  hearts 
before  a  throne  of  grace,  and  to  pray  that  God  may  bless 
their  dearly-beloved  mother ! 

The  removal  to  Centreville  was  the  beginning  of  better 


72  THE   LIFE   AND   TrMES   OF 

days.  Mr.  Franklin  from  that  time  forward  received 
much  better  remuneration  for  his  labors.  Society  was  not 
probably  better  than  in  places  where  they  had  formerly 
lived,  but  living  in  town,  his  wife  was  permitted  to  min- 
gle in  society  more  freely,  and  she  was  not  so  lonesome. 
The  children  were  older  and  every  year  becoming  more 
company  for  her. 

It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  necessity  for  such  sac- 
rifices has  passed  away.  Preachers  now,  with  half  the 
industry  and  economy  of  Benjamin  Franklin  and  his  wife, 
can  have  all  the  necessaries,  and  even  many  of  the  luxuries 
of  life.  The  preacher's  family,  indeed,  have  a  fair  aver- 
age opportunity  with  other  families  in  all  respects. 

The  plan  of  preaching  "once  a  month"  at  each  of  four 
churches,  dates  back  to  about  the  time  of  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin's residence  at  New  Lisbon.  He  never  could  fairly 
adjust  himself  to  the  plan,  although  he  sometimes  made 
such  engagements.  Still  later  in  his  life,  when  he  under- 
took to  give  all  his  time  to  one  church,  he  was  continually 
dissatisfied  with  the  arrangements,  and  was  never  at  home 
except  in  protracted  meetings.  Still  he  never  raised  any 
objections  to  that  plan  of  work  when  others  chose  to  adopt 
it.  Some  of  the  results  (perhaps  not  necessary  conse- 
quences) he  did  deplore,  and  he  lamented  that  these 
results  had  not  been  foreseen,  that  they  might  have  been 
avoided. 

The  ordinary  monthly  visit  at  the  first,  as  now,  compre- 
hended a  meeting  on  Saturday  night  and  two  on  Sunday. 
For  these  regular  visits  preachers  did  not  always,  at  the 
first,  receive  a  stipulated  amount ;  but,  where  it  was  prom- 
ised, the  price  ranged  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred 
dollars  per  annum.  If  occasion  seemed  to  call  for  it,  the 
preacher  was  expected,  for  the  same  amount,  to  stay  and 
"protract"  the  meetings  for  a  week. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  73 

Very  gradually,  but  very  steadily,  the  churches  learned 
to  rely  on  these  monthly  visits  for  their  spiritual  edifica- 
tion. Very  gradually,  and  very  steadily,  they  learned  to 
feel  more  interest  in  these  monthly  meetings  than  in  the 
acts  of  devotion  and  worship  which  might  be  observed  on 
any  Lord's  day.  Very  gradually,  the  preachers  left  off 
their  efforts  to  develope  the  talent  in  the  churches  to  which 
they  ministered,  and  finally  adopted  the  habit  of  merely 
delivering  their  three  sermons  and  then  going  home.  Oc- 
casionally they  roused  themselves  in  a  spasmodic  effort 
"to  set  in  order  the  things  that  were  wanting,"  and  preached 
a  sermon  or  two  on  the  ancient  order  of  worship — "  the 
apostles'  doctrine,  and  fellowship,  the  breaking  of  bread, 
and  prayers. "  The  brethren  would  indulge  in  a  little 
pleasantry  about  how  their  preacher  had  "  hauled  them 
over  the  coals,  "  and  then  people  and  preachers  would 
lapse  into  the  old  routine  again.  To-day  hundreds  of 
churches  never  meet  unless  they  have  a  preacher  present 
to  discourse  to  them. 

A  plan  which  suffers  churches  to  fall  into  such  helpless- 
ness is  in  some  way  deficient.  Some  are  inclined  to  urge 
more  frequent  visits,  or  a  stationed  preacher,  as  the  rem- 
edy. But  how  will  it  help  the  matter  to  have  a  preacher 
present  every  Lord's  day  who  never  calls  for  a  prayer,  a 
thanksgiving,  or  an  exhortation  from  any  member  of  the 
congregation? 

The  deficiency  is  in  the  work  of  the  preachers  on  their 
regular  visits.  A  monthly  visit  and  three  or  four  public 
discourses  is  an  easy  way  of  things,  both  to  the  preacher 
and  to  the  congregation,  but  it  is  a  very  inefficient  way. 
There  oughtto  be  some  additional  meetings,  such  as  Bible- 
classes,  singing  and  prayer  meetings,  etc.,  under  the  faith- 
ful guidance  of  the  elders  of  the  church,  calling  forth  an<J 


74  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF 

exercising  the  talents  of  the  membership.  Let  the  preacher 
add  his  faithful  entreaties  and  expostulations  until  the 
membership  feel  their  responsibility,  and  agree  to  meet 
regularly  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  for  worship.  On 
their  undertaking  to  meet  regularly,  they  will  need  an  es- 
pecial oversight  that  they  do  not  at  once  lapse  into  a  mere 
formality.  Instruction  and  encouragement,  faithfully  and 
judiciously  extended  to  them  in  this  crisis,  is  of  more  con- 
sequence than  the  minister's  sermons.  The  character  of 
their  songs  and  music ;  why  they  should  sing  at  all ;  the 
nature  and  spirit  of  prayers,  intercessions  and  thanksgiv- 
ing ;  how  to  read  the  Scriptures  and  study  them  to  profit 
in  the  public  assembly,  etc.,  are  subjects  on  which  abund- 
ance of  instruction  should  be  ministered.  A  more  difficult 
and  delicate  work  does  not. appertain  to  the  edification  of 
churches,  than  that  of  teaching  them  how  to  hold  profit- 
able meetings  among  themselves — how  "  to  edify  one 
another." 

In  the  early  day  of  which  we  are  now  writing,  the  preach- 
ers understood  full  well  how  to  convert  sinners.  They 
were  adepts  in  the  art  of  controverting  sectarianism,  and 
were  never  better  pleased  than  when  engaged  in  a  contest 
on  sectarian  creeds  and  names,  on  baptism  or  Universal- 
ism.  But  they  were  not  so  apt  in  the  edification  of  saints, 
and  especially  in  showing  the  disciples  how  to  edify  them- 
selves. A  generation  has  not  greatly  improved  the  min- 
istry in  this  respect.  This  remark,  however,  does  not 
apply  to  the  earliest  preachers  of  the  Reformation.  We 
have  already  seen  that  Samuel  Eogers,  in  the  Deer  Creek 
church,  had  nearly  the  whole  congregation  at  work  at  the 
first,  and  developed  eight  preachers  out  of  their  number. 
The  same  was  true  of  his  cotemporaries.  The  lapse  was 
in  the  second  generation.  The  recovery  is  a  thing  of  the 
future, 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  75 

Benjamin  Franklin  saw  this  error  of  the  past  before  he 
died,  and  frequently  expressed  his  regret  that  he  had  not 
come  to  see  the  matter  in  a  clearer  light  thirty  years  ago, 
in  time  to  have  given  his  influence  to  remedy  the  evil.  In 
his  last  days  he  whs  of  the  opinion  that  the  instruction  of 
Paul  to  the  church  in  Corinth  (1  Cor.  xith  to  xvith  chap- 
ters, inclusive),  had  boen  greatly  undervalued,  and  that 
neglect  of  that  instruction,  and  the  routine  work  of  monthly 
appointments,  had  together  laid  the  foundation  upon  which 
the  pastoral  system  has  been  built.  He  regarded  the 
"pastorate"  as  an  unscriptural  office,  and  constantly  made 
war  upon  it.  But  he  did  not  regard  an  engagement 
between  a  church  and  a  preacher  for  preaching  once  a 
month,  or  twice  a  month,  or  every  Lord's  day,  as  neces- 
sarily involving  the  exercise  of  the  pastoral  function.  He 
made  such  ensrasrements  himself  as  late  as  1854.  To  the 
last  year  of  his  life  he  heartily  co-operated  with  the  church 
at  Anderson,  Indiana,  where  he  then  held  membership,  in 
securing  the  regular  services  of  a  preacher.  But  he  held 
that  the  preacher  had  no  executive  authority ;  that,  on  the 
contrary,  the  executive  authority  was  lodged  in  the  bish- 
ops or  elders,  of  the  church.  The  preacher,  he  maintained, 
did  not  "have  charge  of  the  church,"  but  the  church  had 
charge  of  him. 

It  is  not  our  province,  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  to  discuss 
this  subject.  We  will  therefore  proceed  no  farther  in  that 
direction  than  to  venture  the  suggestion  that  it  is  quite 
possible  for  brethren  to  discuss  the  subject  in  such  a  way 
as  to  engender  strife  rather  than  godly  edification.  An 
affectionate  fraternal  appeal  "to  the  law  and  the  testimo- 
ny," if  the  love  of  God  and  reverence  for  His  word  abide 
in  us,  will  as  certainly  bring  us  to  "the  same  mind  and  the 
same  judgment,"  as  that  that  course  united  the  Caneridge 
and  Bethany  Reformers. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

/~r{  HERE  is  nothing  in  the  character  of  those  who  were 
connected  with  the  effort  to  restore  the  "  ancient 
order/'  in  which  they  more  closely  resembled 
the  primitive  disciples,  than  the  flaming  zeal  with  which 
they  sought  to  impress  the  principles  of  their  reformatory 
movements  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men.  Every  man 
who  could  speak  in  public  at  all,  and  hundreds  who,  in 
this  age  of  rhetorical  criticism,  would  hardly  receive  a  hear 
ing,  began  to  exhort  and  preach  soon  after  their  conver- 
sion. Benjamin  Franklin,  as  we  have  already  seen,  im- 
mediately after  his  obedience  to  the  Gospel,  gave  himself 
up  to  the  work  of  planting  the  truth,  the  good  seed  of  the 
kingdom,  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  never  ceased 
his  efforts  till  his  heart  was  stilled  in  death. 

People  of  such  convictions  and  such  a  temper  were  not 
slow  to  see  what  a  power  was  developing  in  the  printing- 
press,  and  at  once  began  to  utilize  that  power  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel.  Alexander  Campbell  had  been 
"  sounding  out  the  word  of  God"  for  twenty  years, 
through  the  Christian  Baptist  and  Millennial  Harbinger, 
and  had  filled  the  hearts  of  many  thousands,  either  with 
a  conviction  of  the  truth,  or  with  vexation  and  wrath  that 
they  could  not  answer  him.  Quite  a  number  of  periodi- 
cals had  come  into  existence,  and  were  all  pleading  with 
more  or  less  power  for  a  return  to  the  old  apostolic  land- 
marks.* 


♦  Arthur  Crihfield,  Middleburg,  Ohio,  was,  in  1837,  publishing  a  periodical 
entitled  the  Northern  Jie/ormer,  (a  quarterly),    Jn  the  $lay  number  he 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  77 

In  1843,  Daniel  K.  Winder,  of  New  Paris,  Ohio, 
started  a  small  sheet,  about  eighteen  by  twenty-four 
inches,  called  the  Reformer.  In  his  itinerate  ministry, 
Mr.  Franklin  had  penetrated  Western  Ohio  and  had  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Winder.  At  the  end  of  the  sec- 
ond volume,  this  periodical  was  discontinued  by  its  orig- 
inal proprietor,  and  Mr.  Franklin  determined  to  issue  a 
small  monthly  pamphlet  of  the  same  name.  Decision  was, 
as  usual,  followed  by  immediate  action.  A  prospectus 
was  accordingly  issued,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1845,  a  sixteen-page  pamphlet,  without  a  cover,  was  sent 
forth,  bearing  the  following  title  at  the  head  of  the  first 
page : 


mentions  the  following  periodicals,  with  their  location,  and  the  names  of  the 
editors: 

Millennial  Harbinger,  Bethany,  Virginia,  by  A.  Campbell;  Christian 
Messenger,  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  by  B.  W.  Stone;  Christian  Panoplist, 
Versailles,  Ky.,  by  Hall  &  Hunter;  Apostolic  Advocate,  Office  Tavern,  Va., 
by  John  Thomas;  Primitive  Christian,  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  by  S.  E.  Shepard; 
Christian  Preacher,  Cincinnati,  O.,  Dy  D.  S.  Burnet;  The  Disciple,  Tusea- 
loosa,  Ala.,  by  Butler  &  Graham;  Christian  Publisher,  Charlottesville,  Va., 
by  R.  L.  Coleman ;  The  Christian,  Georgetown,  Ky.,by  Johnson  &  Scott. 

Mr.  Franklin's  periodical,  in  1847,  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  the  follow- 
ing exchanges: 

Millennial  Harbinger,  Bethany,  Ohio,  by  A.  Campbell ;  Genius  of  Chris- 
tianifr/,  Boston,  Mass.,  A.  G.  Comings;  Orthodox  Pi  eacher,  Covington,  Ky., 
by  A.  Crihtield;  Christian  Record,  Bloomington,  Ind.,  by  J.  M.  Mathes; 
Bible  Advocete,  Paris,  Tenn.,  by  J.  R.  Howard;  Christian  Review,  Frank- 
lin College,  Tenn.,  by  T.  Fanning;  Christian  Journal,  Louisville,  Ky.,  by 
C.  Kendrick;  Christian  Teacher,  Paris,  Ky.,  by  Aylett  Raines;  Christian 
Intelligencer,  Scottsville,  Va.,  by  R.  L.  Coleman;  The  Investigator,  Misha- 
waka,  Ind.,  by  P.  T.  Russell;  Bible  Student,  Hagerstovvn,  Md.,  by  D.  K. 
Winder;  Protestant  Unionist,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  by  Walter  Scott  and  P.  S. 
Forester. 

Mr.  Crihtield  gives  his  list  of  1837  as  complete.  Mr.  Franklin  made  it  a 
rule,  on  learning  of  the  existence  of  a  periodical,  to  send  for  it  at  once.  The 
year  1847  was  the  third  year  ot  his  editorial  career.  We  may,  therefore,  con- 
clude that  his  list  of  that  year  is  very  nearly  complete. 


78  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

THE  REFORMER. 

A  MONTHLY  PUBLICATION  DEVOTED  TO  CHRISTIANITY. 
CONDUCTED  BY  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

"  Look  diligently  lest  any  man  fail  of  the  Grace  of  God" — Paul. 
VOL.  3.  CENTREVILLE,  JANUARY,  1845.     ■  NO,  1. 

In  the  U  preface,"  or  what  in  later  publications  he 
would  probably  have  called  "  salutatory,"  there  are  views 
which  he  repeated  almost  annually  until  his  death,  and 
one  which  he  afterwards  regarded  with  much  less  fa- 
vor. The  following  is  copied,  verbatim  et  literatim,  from 
the  "  preface  :" 

"  Since  the  publication  of  my  Prospectus,  1  have  re- 
ceived much  encouragement,  and  am  enabled  to  commence 
with  a  tolerable  list  of  subscribers.  Some  brethren  have 
feared  this  undertaking  would  limit  my  labors  as  an 
Evangelist:  this  however  will  not  be  the  case.  I  will,  if 
the  Lord  gives  me  health  and  strength,  preach  just  as 
much  as  I  have  done  for  the  last  four  years,  and  attend 
faithfully  to  my  publication  too. 

*' Another  objection  is  anticipated,  which  is,  that  we 
have  too  many  papers.  To  this  I  answer,  that  we  are  bound 
to  have  a  large  number  of  papers  so  long  as  every  man 
who  can,  is  allowed  to  publish.  No  man  is  willing  to  be 
deterred  from  publishing,  simply  by  some  man's  saying 
that  we  have  too  many  papers.  Yet,  any  orderly  member 
of  the  Church  would  decline  publishing,  if  he  knew  that 
it  was  the  wish  of  a  majority  of  the  brethren,  in  a  con- 
siderable district  of  the  country  where  he  resided.  One 
of  two  things  is  right,  at  all  events.     (1.)   It  is  right  for 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  79 

every  man  to  preach  who  can  get  a  support,  and  every 
man  to  publish  who  can  get  subscribers;  or,  (2)  It  is 
right  that  there  should  be  some  kind  of  a  co-operation,  by 
means  of  which,  the  brotherhood  could  say  who  should 
preach,  and  how  they  should  be  supported — who  should 
be  their  editors,  what  remuneration  they  should  have,  and 
what  the  remaining  profits  of  publication,  if  there  should 
be  any,  should  be  appropriated  to.  To  the  latter  opinion 
I  am  inclined,  and  am  willing  to  submit,  whenever  such 
co-operation  shall  be  obtained." 

The  opening  and  closing  sentences,  like  the  conclusion 
of  all  discourses  delivered  in  those  days,  no  matter  what 
the  occasion,  were  a  fervid  exhortation:  "'Time  is 
winging  us  away,'  yet  all  our  actions  are  recorded  indeli- 
bly on  God's  great  book  of  accounts  as  we  pass  along; 
and  all  that  pertains  to  us,  whether  it  be  word,  thought, 
or  deed,  will  be  most  certainly  disclosed  4  in  the  clay  when 
God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men,  by  Jesus  Christ,  ac- 
cording to  the  Gospel.'  *  *  *  Let  us  then  write, 
preach  and  talk  on  the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  fear  of  God  ; 
and  let  our  cries,  day  and  night,  enter  the  ears  of  our 
most  merciful  Heavenly  Father,  that  he  may  abandon  us 
not  to  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil,  and  bring  us 
to  his  everlasting  kingdom,  through  Jesus  Christ;  to 
whom  be  the  power  and  dominion  forever." 

The  want  of  rhetorical  finish  in  some  of  the  early  peri- 
odicals sent  forth  would  retard  their  circulation  at  this 
day.  But  that  wTas  at  a  time  when  good  district  schools 
were  by  no  means  common,  and  when  high-schools  and 
colleges  were  almost  unknown  west  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains.  Men  went  to  Congress  who  could  not  write 
ten   consecutive    lines  without  as  many  violations  of  the 


80  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

rules  of  grammar.  They  were  laughed  at  for  their  "  back- 
woods maimers  ;  "  but  it  may  be  doubted  if  the  West  has 
since  been  represented  by  men  who  criticise  all  the  meas_ 
ures  introduced  into  Congress  so  sharply  as  they.  The  peo- 
ple of  the  West  were  illiterate,  but  their  judgment  was 
ripe  on  the  matters  in  which  they  were  directly  interested. 
Nearly  all  the  readers  of  The  Reformer  were  themselves 
so  deficient  in  letters  as  to  be  wholly  oblivious  to  any 
defects  of  this  kind.  But  of  the  essential  feature  of  such 
a  work,  these  readers  were  quite  as  competent  to  judge  as 
the  readers  of  any  periodical  now  published.  The  Re- 
former must  give  no  "  uncertain  sound"  on  "  the  princi- 
ples of  the  current  Reformation."  Preachers  were  listened 
to,  and  editors  read  after,  by  people  who  had  few  books 
to  read  but  the  Bible,  and  who  knew  what  was  in  the 
Bible — people  who  understood  the  application  of  such 
expressions  as,,  "  Bible  things  by  Bible  names,''  "thus 
saith  the  Lord,"  etc.  Although  lacking  in  elegance  of 
diction,  such  persons  were  clear  and  sharp  in  perception, 
and,  as  will  presently  be  seen,  grasped  the  questions  which 
are  under  discussion  to-day.  That  The  Reformer  met  the 
demand  of  the  time  and  of  the  community  in  which  it  was 
issued,  was  demonstrated,  as  its  editor  believed,  by  the 
growing  support  which  it  received. 

Que  thing  in  the  above  extract  involved  far  more  than 
the  writer  then  saw  in  it.  M  A  co-operation  by  means  of 
which  the  brotherhood  could  say  who  should  preach,  and 
how  they  should  be  supported — who  should  be  their 
editors,  what  remuneration  they  should  have,  and  what 
the  remaining  profits  should  be  appropriated  to,"  would 
certainly  be  one  to  which  the  editor  of  the  American 
Christian  Review  would  never  have  submitted.  And, 
had  such  a  co-operation  then  been  attained,  it  is  not  at  all 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  81 

likely  th.it  the  editor  of  The  Reformer  would  long  have 
been  subject.  If  the  editor  did  not  see,  there  were  those 
among  his  correspondents  who  did  see,  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  that  subject,  "  a  little  cloud  out  of  the  sea,  like 
a  man's  hand,"  which  they  did  not  doubt  would  develop 
into  a  tempest  that  would  endanger  the  Reformation.  That 
their  fears  were  not  groundless,  we  shall  hereafter  see. 
"The  brotherhood,"  however,  never  chose  to  "  co- 
operate" in  that  way.  A  County  Co-operation  of 
Churches,  for  the  evangelization  of  the  county  in  which 
it  was  located,  sometimes  maintained  a  precarious  exist- 
ence long  enough  to  keep  an  "  Evangelist"  in  the  field 
for  a  year  or  two.  But  all  other  preachers  and  all  the 
editors  were  left  free  to  make  their  own  arrangements, 
and  to  succeed  or  starve  out,  as  the  case  might  be.  The 
editor  of  The  Reformer  was,  therefore,  left  to  the  other 
course  stated  in  his  "  Preface."  He  got  a  support,  and 
preached  ;  he  got  subscribers,  and  continued  to  publish  a 
periodical.  The  support  was  not,  indeed,  what  preachers 
would  now  consider  ample,  and  a  prudent  publisher  would 
now  scarcely  consider  it  safe  to  start  a  periodical  without 
five  times  as  many  subscribers  as  The  Reformer  had  during 
the  first  two  years  of  its  management  by  Mr.  Franklin. 
In  the  "Proceedings  of  the  second  and  third  quarterly 
meetings  of  the  Rush  County  individual  association  of 
Disciples,"  held  in  1845,  it  was  noted  that  the  executive 
committee  had  "  employed  George  Campbell  as  an  Evan- 
gelist, at  a  salary  of  three  hundred  dollars  per  annum." 
That  was  a  fair  average  salary  in  Eastern  Indiana  at  that 
time.  The  editor  of  The  Reformer  had  never,  up  to  that 
time,  received  quite  so  much  as  that.  There  is  no  means 
of  knowing  the  exact  number  of  subscribers  to  the  paper. 

The  volume  for  1845  reports  three   hundred   subscribers 
5 


82  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES   OF 

who  had  paid  up,  and  the  next  year  about  four  hundred. 
In  1846,  mention  is  made  that  three  hundred  had  not  paid 
for  the  preceding  }rear,  and  that  one  thousand  were  delin- 
quent that  year.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  sub- 
scription list  for  the  two  years  did  not  average  fifteen 
hundred,  and  that  the  cash  income  did  not  exceed  six 
hundred  dollars  per  annum.  The  expenses  of  publication 
had  to  be  met  out  of  this  income.  Mr.  Franklin's  in- 
come during  these  two  }'ears  could  not,  therefore,  have 
been  in  excess  of  five  hundred  or  six  hundred  dollars 
a  year.  His  family  consisted  of  himself  and  wife  and 
seven  children.  But  with  a  prudence  which  never 
forsook  him  in  any  matter  wholly  under  his  own  con- 
trol, he  narrowed  down  the  expenses  of  his  family 
and  of  his  periodical  within  the  limits  of  this  narrow 
income,  kept  a  horse  and  buggy,  and  even  made  pay- 
ments on  a  piece  of  property  which  he  had  purchased. 

For  about  a  year  the  Reformer  was  printed  by  Samuel 
C.  Meredith,  the  owner  of  a  small  printing-office  in  Cen- 
terville,  and  publisher  of  a  county  paper.  Early  in  the 
spring  of  1846,  Mr.  Franklin  purchased  a  small  stock  of 
printing  materals,  hired  a  printer,  and  set  up  an  office  in 
the  front  room  of  the  rented  house  in  which  he  lived — a 
sort  of  parlor  printing-office.  The  distinct  recollections 
of  the  writer  of  these  pages  begin  at  this  period  ;  for, 
under  the  printer  now  employed  he  began  to  learn  the 
printer's  trade,  and  continued  in  the  office  as  long  his 
father  owned  it — until  after  the  removal  to  Cincinnati. 

The  subjects  discussed  in  this  early  publication  were 
quite  numerous  for  so  small  a  paper.  Among  those  out- 
side of  the  leading  and  distinctive  principles  of  the  Refor- 
mation, may  be  mentioned,  Secret  Societies,  Innocent 
Amusements,    Temperance,    Co-operation   of   Churches, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  83 

Evidences  of  Christianity,  Relation  of  Human  Govern- 
ments to  the  Divine  Government,  Support  of  Preachers, 
etc.  The  editor  and  his  correspondents  show  not  only 
great  mental  activity,  but  quickened  consciences.  "Is 
it  right?  Is  it  taught  in  the  Bible  ?"  Were  the  the  usual 
forms  of  questions.  The  intensity  of  the  faith  of  the 
Disciples  of  those  days  led  them  into  a  profound  respect 
for  the  authority  of  the  Bible.  They  showed  no  taste  for 
speculative  theology.  No  reason  for  anything  was  of- 
fered or  sought  for  beyond  the  fact  that  the  Bible  teaches 
it.  Their  religion  was  "to  believe  the  facts,  obey  the 
commands  and  enjoy  the  promises  "  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

There  were  some  persons,  however,  plead  their  right 
to  indulgence  where  there  is  no  direct  prohibition  in 
the  Bible.  How  the  Disciples  were  wont  to  reason  on 
such  matters,  may  be  illustrated  by  an  extract  from  an 
article  in  the  Reformer,  headed,  "  Parties,  Plays,  Danc- 
ing, &e."  Some  one  had  heard  the  plea  that,  "  there  is 
nothing  in  the  Bible  against  such  things,  and,  therefore, 
there  can  be  no  harm  in  theni."  An  appeal  to  the  editor 
in  regard  to  the  matter,  brought  out  the  following: 

u  Paul  taught  that  young  women  should  be  sober  and 
discreet,  keeping  at  home ;  and  that  young  men  should 
be  sober-minded  ;  directing  Titus  to  show  himself  a  pat- 
tern, in  doctrine,  uncorruptness,  gravity  and  sincerity. 
Titus,  ii.  ■  Whatever  you  do  in  word  or  deed,  do  all  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks  to  God  and 
the  Father  by  him.'  Col.  iii,  17.  'For  many  walk  of 
whom  I  have  told  you  often,  and  now  tell  you  even  weep- 
ing, that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ : 
whose  end  is  destruction,  whose  god  is  their  belly,  and 
whose  glory  is  their  shame,  who   mind   earthly  things. 


84  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

Our  conversation  is  in  heaven  ;  from  whence  also  we  look 
for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  Phil,  iii,  18-20. 
'  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall 
speak,  they  shall  give  an  account  thereof  in  the  day  of 
judgment. '  Matt,  xii,  36.  '  Neither  filthiness  nor  foolish 
talking,  nor  jesting,  which  are  not  convenient ;  but  rather 
giving  of  thanks.'  Now  we  think  a  party,  play  or  dance, 
at  which  all  are  *  sober-minded,'  '  grave,'  *  mind  not 
earthly  things,'  «  have  their  conversation  in  heaven,'  avoid 
*  every  idle  word,'  '  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,'  with- 
out any  *  foolish  talking  or  jesting,'  would  be  rather  a 
new  thing  under  the  sun.  Young  gentlemen  and  ladies, 
if  you  would  be  truly  happy,  imitate  the  character  of  our 
Divine  Lord,  imbibe  the  gracious  sentiments  which  fell 
from  his  immaculate  lips,  and  he  will  fill  your  hearts  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  in  this  world ;  and  iu 
the  world  to  come,  admit  you  to  his  presence  where  there 
is  fullness  of  joy." 

Their  strong  convictions  of  truth  gave  to  the  preachers 
and  writers  of  that  day  a  zeal  that  pointed  all  their  argu- 
ments with  a  personal  exhortation.  Nothing  worthy  of 
being  considered  at  all  could  be  treated  lightly.  People 
were  faithfully  instructed  in  the  will  of  the  Lord  as  re- 
vealed in  the  Bible,  and  at  once  exhorted  to  obey,  as  they 
must  give  account  of  themselves  to  God  in  the  day  of 
judgment. 

An  account  is  given  in  the  The  Reformer  for  1845  of  a 
"protracted  union  meeting,"  held  in  the  town  of  Center- 
ville.  There  were  at  the  time  three  preachers  in  the  place, 
viz:  Philip  May,  Episcopal  Methodist;  Leroy  Woods, 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  and  Benjamin  Franklin.  The 
proposal  of  such  a  meeting,  as  the  reader  will  readily  sus- 
pect, originated  with  the  latter.       These  three,  with  the 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  85 

membership  of  their  respective  churches,  had  united,  in 
the  Autumn  of  1844,  in  union  Thanksgiving  services.  The 
Presbyterian  minister  preached  tn  the  morning,  the  Meth- 
odist minister  in  the  afternoon,  and  Mr.  Franklin  at 
"  candle-lighting."  The  Reformer  for  January  mentioned 
these  meetings,  and  added  : 

u  When  we  think  of  the  happiness  and  joy  afforded  us 
by  this  little  spark  of  union,  it  fills  us  with  anxiety,  to 
make  some  further  efforts,  for  the  accomplishment  of  that 
which  our  Divine  Lord  and  Master  prayed  for,  relative  to 
the  union  of  all  the  believers.  We  will,  therefore,  pro- 
pose to  brethren  Woods  and  May,  to  hold  a  protracted 
union  meeting,  (reader,  do  not  smile,  for  I  do  not  know 
what  else  to  call  it,)  in  Centerville,  Indiana,  begining  on 
the  Saturday  before  the  second  Lord's  Day,  in  February, 
at  11  o'clock,  to  be  conducted  in  the  following  manner  :  To 
be  held  alternately  at  each  of  our  houses  of  worship,  each 
one  preside  in  his  own  house,  have  three  sermons  per  day, 
each  one  preach  last  when  the  service  is  in  his  own  house, 
all  to  be  at  liberty  to  preach  what  they  think  profitable. 
I  am  perfectly  willing  to  leave  it  to  brethren  Woods  and 
May  to  decide  whether  we  shall  be  allowed  to  make  any 
allusions  to  each  other's  discourses  in  matters  where  we 
differ ;  but  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  there  ought  to  be 
nothing  in  the  shape  of  replies.  I  only  suggest  the  fore- 
going plan,  and  will  submit  to  any  reasonable  alterations 
or  amendments  from  the  parties." 

As  may  be  imagined,  there  was  considerable  objection 
and  delay  in  the  matter.  The  Methodist  minister  did  not 
take  kindly  to  it  all,  and  finally  flatly  refused,  proposing 
a  debate  instead.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  never  took 
alarm  at  a  challenge  for  debate,  and  Mr.  May  had  less 
trouble  getting  into  a  debate  than  in  getting  out  of  it. 


86  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

Four  propositions  were  agreed  upon  ;  but  two  days  Later 
Mr.  May  declined  entering  into  oral  discussion,  on  the 
ground  that  his  brethren  were  opposed  to  it.  He  wrote 
two  articles  on  the  first  proposition,  but  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  second,  declined  to  go  any  farther,  and  took  his 
leave  of  the  editor  of  The  Reformer  in  the  following  words 
of  offended  dignity :  "  Now,  sir,  do  your  utmost  at  ridi- 
cule in  reply  to  this  communication.  Put  your  ingenuity  to 
the  rack,  and  bring  forth  all  your  strength,  for  this  is  the 
last  opportunity  of  the  kind  you  can  have."  The  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian  minister  was  not  so  shy.  He  ac- 
cepted the  proposition  in  good  faith,  and  April  3d,  1845, 
was  fixed  upon  as  thetime  when  the  meeting  should  beheld. 
The  result  is  summed  up  in  the  following  editorial  fvomThe 
Reformer  for  May : 

'*  The  union  meeting  is  now  numbered  among  the  things 
that  are  past.  Many  and  various  have  been  the  prognos- 
tications relative  to  this  meeting  since  its  annunciation ; 
but  one  long  since  said,  *  If  a  prophet  shall  prophecy,  and 
the  thing  spoken  come  not  to  pass,  then  hath  God  not 
spoken  it.'  If  this  rule  is  to  govern  in  the  case  under 
consideration,  many  of  our  prophets,  most  certainly, 
prophesied  from  the  impulse  of  their  own  spirits,  and 
not  the  Spirit  of  God.  Men  sometimes  predict  certain 
things  because  they  wish  them  to  take  place,  and  at  other 
times  from  fear  that  they  will  take  place,  and  others  sim- 
ply to  gain  reputation  of  being  prophets.  It  was  pre- 
dicted by  some  that  my  object  was  to  lead  brother  Woods 
into  a  debate ;  by  others  that  we  both  wished  to  gain  pop- 
ularity ;  others  thought  the  object  was  to  league  together 
against  Methodism,  while  others  thought  that  I  simply 
wished  to  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  to  fight.  And 
there  was  a  kind  of  general  prediction  that  it  would  do  no 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  87 

good.  We  feel  confident,  however,  that  these  predictions 
and  suspicions  have  proved  groundless. 

"  The  meeting  commenced  at  the  time  announced  in 
The  Reformer^  No.  3.  and  was  opened  hy  an  interesting 
discourse  from  Brother  Woods,  in  presence  of  a  respecta- 
ble audience  from  all  parties,  which  increased  with  the 
interest  of  the  meeting,  until  Lord's  Day,  when  the  Pres- 
byterian's meeting-house  was  crowded  to  overflowing. 
The  meeting  lasted  six  days,  during  which  fourteen  dis- 
courses were  delivered, —  three  by  Brother  Woods,  three 
by  Brother  Stewart,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Conners- 
ville,  two  by  Brother  Miller,  a  Christian  minister  of  Fair- 
view,  and  six  by  the  editor. 

\\  It  was  mutually  agreed  by  Brother  Woods  and  my- 
self, that  on  Monday  night  I  should  give  an  invitation  at 
our  meeting-house,  and  that  he  should  give  an  invitation 
on  Tuesday  night  at  the  Presbyterian's  meeting-house, 
which  we  did.  The  result  was  three  confessions  on  Mon- 
day night;  and  the  three  who  confessed,  and  one  more, 
were  immersed  on  Wednesday  after  the  union  meeting 
closed. 

"  The  reader  will  please  not  to  award  the  liberality  and 
honor  of  holding  this  meeting  to  the  Old  School  Presby- 
terians. Brother  Woods  is  a  Cumberland  Presbyterian, 
and  may  well  be  more  liberal,  believing,  as  he  does,  that 
'  Christ  died  for  all,'  than  those  who  believe  that  God 
from  all  eternity  reprobated  some  men  and  angels  to 
everlasting  punishment. 

"  We  believe  there  are  none  who  have  the  liberty  of 
keeping  their  own  consciences,  that  do  not  confess  that 
the  meeting  has  been  productive  of  much  good.  We  feel 
confident  that  the  leaven  is  at  work  in  our  community, 
which  will  result  in  the  salvation  of  mauy,,> 


88  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

This  notice  of  the  Protracted  Union  Meeting  closed 
with  a  proposal  for  "  a  meeting  of  as  many  of  the  differ- 
ent parties  as  can  be  induced  to  attend,  at  which  one  min- 
ister shall  be  selected  from  each  party,  to  deliver  one  dis- 
course each  on  Christian  Union,  and  leave  the  community 
to  judge  between  us  now,  as  God  will  judge  us  all  in  the 
Great  Day."  But  nothing  came  of  this  proposal,  as  no 
one  ever  responded  to  it. 

Solomon  bays  :  "  Say  not  thou,  what  is  the  cause  that 
the  former  days  were  better  than  these?  for  thou  dost  not 
inquire  wisely  concerning  this."  Any  who  inquire  why 
the  former  days  of  the  "  current  reformation"  were  so 
much  "  better  than  these,"  do  not  "  inquire  wisely  con- 
cerning this."  A  glance  at  the  pages  of  The  Reformer 
for  the  two  years  1845-6,  will  discover  the  fact  that  many 
things  fell  short  of  the  perfection  taught  in  the  Bible. 
The  young  people  were  as  unsettled  in  their  piety  then  as 
now.  Overseers  in  the  churches  were  continually  em- 
ployed with  cases  of  discipline.  The  churches  did  not 
then  keep  the  young  people  employed  in  teachers'  meet- 
ings, Bible  classes,  or  singing  meetings,  thus  banding  them 
in  a  sort  of  social  circle  of  their  own,  and  holding  them 
aloof  from  the  time-killing  amusements,  play-parties, 
dances,  shows,  etc.  Many  of  the  churches  had  no  meet- 
ings but  one  on  the  first  day  of  the  week ;  and  there  is 
good  reason  to  doubt  whether  the  Lord's  Day  meetings 
of  those  days  were  any  more  edifying  than  such  meetings 
are  now.  The  singing  was  often  most  grossly  neglected. 
A  picture  drawn  by  the  editor  of  The  Reformer  will  recall 
similar  scenes,  witnessed,  no  doubt,  by  many  of  the  read- 
ers of  these  pages,  and  which  will  serve  to  show  how  the 
foundation  was  laid  for  the  trouble  in  regard  to  " music" 
in.  the  churches.     If  the  £ea4ey  be  fastidious,  and  fears  a 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  89 

shock  upon  his  nervous  system,  it  will  be  advisable  to 
skip  to  the  next  subject  introduced.  The  article  is  char- 
acteristic of  the  writer,  and  deserves  a  place  here : 

"  SINGING.' ' 

"  It  is  lamentable  to  see  the  negligence  of  the  brethren 
in  cultivating  their  talent  for  singing.  It  might  truly  be 
said,  that,  of  all  the  delinquencies  which  have  obtained 
amongst  religious  people,  this  one  is  transcendant.  How 
much  might  be  said  here  without  exaggeration?  Reader 
have  you  not  seen  large  congregations  that  could  not  sing 
one  hymn  without  a  book,  and  could  scarcely  do  it  with 
one?  Have  you  not  been  at  the  house  of  God,  and  heard 
a  sermon  delivered,  and  the  brethren  invited  to  sing  at 
the  close,  while  sinners  are  invited  to  come  and  obey  the 
gospel ;  and,  after  waiting  some  time,  a  brother  very  de- 
liberately draws  the  case  out  of  his  pocket,  takes  out  his 
spectacles,  adjusts  them  properly  to  his  eyes,  looks  round 
and  inquires  of  several  others  for  a  hymn-book.  Pres- 
ently one  is  produced,  he  looks  at  the  index,  announces 
the  page,  looks  doubtingly  at  the  hymn  some  time,  tunes 
his  voice,  and  finally  commences  :     '  I'm  not  ashamed  to 

own  my  Lord,  nor  to brethren,  that 's  a  long-meter 

tune;  can't  some  of  the  rest  of  you  start  it?'  Finally 
the  singing  is  murdered  through,  and  all  seem  glad  the 
task  is  performed.  We  say,  have  you  not  seen  something 
like  this?  Well,  why  is  this?  It  is  just  because  no  effort 
is  made  to  learn  to  sing ;  for  there  are  some  that  could 
learn  in  every  congregation.  Let  them  practice  at  home, 
and  assemble  an  hour  before  meeting  time  and  practice, 
and  so  develop  a  love  for  singing,  and  they  will  soon  be 
able  to  sing  a  great  variety  of  our  excellent  songs  and 
hymns.     When  you  go  to  the  house  of  God,  go  with  the 


90  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   Off 

intention  of  mingling  your  voice  in  the  praises,  and  sing 
with  the  spirit  and  with  the  understanding.  If  you  expect 
to  be  happy  in  singing  the  praises  of  God  forever,  you 
must  delight  in  it  here;  for  God  will  change  no  heart  in 
the  grave,  or  in  the  resurrection,  and  tune  it  for  singing 
his  praises,  that  does  not  delight  in  it  here." 

In  the  last  years  of  his  life,  after  instrumental  music 
had  been  appealed  to  as  a  remedy  for  the  deficiency  of  the 
churches  in  singing,  he  frequently  expressed  to  the  writer 
his  profound  regret  that  more  attention  had  not  been  given 
to  the  importance  of  singing  as  part  of  the  worship  of 
God,  and  confessed  that  such  a  state  of  things  as  above 
described  is  as  destitute  of  true  devotion,  as  he  believed 
singing,  accompanied  with  an  instrument,  to  be. 

The  editor  of  The  Reformer  was  charged,  as  was  the 
editor  of  The  Review  in  later  years ,  with  magnifying  ex- 
isting evils.  He  seems  to  have  been  of  a  temper  some- 
where between  that  of  his  father  and  mother.  His  father 
sometimes  sank  into  an  uncontrollable  despondency,  while 
his  mother  was  always  buoyant  and  hopeful.  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  disposed,  at  times,  to  look  upon  some  re- 
formers as  failures,  and  the  means  of  grace,  as  applied  to 
them,  ineffectual  in  keeping  the  Disciples  in  the  path  of 
duty.  But  his  strong  faith  always  triumphed.  God  is 
over  it  all.  He  has  revealed  the  truth.  To  believe  and 
obey  this  revelation  is  infallibly  right.  Some  will  be  saved 
by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  the  edification  of 
saints.  Therefore,  let  the  men  of  faith  go  on  in  their 
work  of  faith  and  their  labor  of  love.  It  should  be  noted 
that,  in  the  picture  of  evil  which  his  pen  frequently  drew, 
he  rather  described  what  he  believed  would  be  likely  soon 
to  follow  if  prevailing  influences  should  not  be  overcome, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  91 

than  what  actually  existed.  This  fact  serves  to  explain 
why,  after  depicting  evils  that  would  have  disheartened 
most  men  had  they  believed  them  to  exist,  he  seemed  only 
to  nerve  himself  to  greater  efforts — the  coming  evil  may 
be  partially  or  entirely  averted  by  the  present  effort. 

In  the  second  number  of  The  Reformer  is  found  an  ar- 
ticle on  "  Our  Prospects,''  setting  forth  that  "  we  have 
come  almost  to  a  dead  halt,"  and  attributing  the  stand- 
still to  five  causes,  viz  :  1st.  Great  political  excitement. 
2d.  The  influence  of  the  Second  Advent  excitement.  3d. 
That  many  Disciples  had  never  learned  to  walk  by  faith. 
4th.  That  many  good  preachers  had  left  the  field.  5th. 
That  preaching  did  not  exhibit  the  same  zeal,  scripture 
knowledge  and  argument,  as  the  preaching  of  former 
times.  And  then,  with  that  rebound  of  spirit  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  he  concluded  with  the  following 
exhortation  :  "  Under  these  circumstances,  what  is  to  be 
done?  We  answer,  let  every  Disciple  of  our  blessed  Lord 
determine  to  read  the  Scriptures  some  every  day,  with 
the  most  devout  and  prayerful  attention  possible,  and  lift 
up  his  cries  in  "  prayers,  intercessions  and  giving  of 
thanks,  night  and  day,"  and  let  all  be  regularly  found  at 
the  house  and  table  of  the  Lord,  and  this  of  itself  will 
produce  quite  a  different  state  of  things.  *  *  *  That 
the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged,  is  emphatically  the 
cause  of  God,  whether  our  actions  are  always  the  best 
calculated  to  promote  it  or  not,  we  have  never  entertained 
one  doubt  since  we  first  acknowledged  the  authority  of 
the  great  King.  To  think  of  abandoning  this  cause,  al- 
ways brings  to  view  the  words  of  the  Disciples,  when  the 
Lord  said,  '  Will  you  also  go  away?'  to  which  they  re- 
plied, *  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  for  thou  only  hast 
the   words   of    eternal   life?'     *     *     *     Let   us,    then, 


92  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

brethren,  make  one  mighty  effort  to  save  the  church  from 
corruption,  lukewarmness,  speculation,  and  sin  of  every 
kind,  that  it  finally  may  be  presented  to  the  Lord,  'a  glo- 
rious church,  without  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,' 
and  ascribe  all  the  honor  and  glory  to  God  and  the  Lamb 
forever  and  ever." 

During  his  residence  at  Centerville,  besides  his  preach- 
ing at  regular  appointments,  Mr.  Franklin  made  two  jour- 
neys that  were  very  considerable  for  those  days  —  one 
southward  into  Kentucky  and  the  other  northward  into 
Southern  Michigan.  Neither  of  these  journeys  was  at- 
tended with  any  incident  of  great  interest  to  the  reader. 
The  accounts  furnished  in  The  Reformer  are  taken  up  with 
descriptions  of  the  country  and  a  mention  of  the  preaching- 
places  and  preachers  met  wTith  on  the  route.  Only  one 
additiou  to  the  churches  is  noted.  At  Wabnsh  (or 
Wabashtown,  as  it  was  then  called),  he  met  James  M. 
Mathes,  editor  of  the  Christian  Record,  then  published 
at  Bloomington  ;  and  Milton  B.  Hopkins,  since,  so  well 
known  as  one  of  Indiana's  best  educators,  and  finally 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  "  These  brethren," 
he  wrote,  "  were  on  their  mission  to  Fort  Wayne,  being 
called  and  sent  by  the  State  meeting."  Near  Logan  he 
met  one  of  these  erratic  characters,  who  has  since  mis- 
used a  very  respectable  ability  of  riding  half  a  dozen  dif- 
ferent hobbies  in  turn,  to  the  destruction  of  more  than 
as  many  churches,  and  finally  switching  off  into  Material- 
ism, and  thence  into  Universalism.  With  an  intuitive 
insight  into  human  character,  well  known  now  as  be- 
longing to  him,  he  saw  through  this  wandering  star,  and 
wrote  that  "he  is  spoken  of  as  a  talented  brother,  and 
much  depends  upon  his  support,  as  well  as  his  proper  and 
judicious  deportment  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ." 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN,  93 

But  mention  is  here  made  of  these  tours  chiefly  because 
they  illustrate  how  a  man  may  make  an  opening  and  a 
position  for  himself.  Occasionally  a  young  candidate  for 
ministerial  honors  and  emoluments  has  heard  Mr.  Frank- 
lin preach,  a»d  noticed  that  crowds  waited  on  his  ministry  ; 
has  criticised  his  grammar  and  rhetoric,  sneered  at  his 
manners  and  dress,  and  then  has  gone  off  mad  with  jeal- 
ousy, because  he  had  been  totally  eclipsed  by  such  an 
unpolished  person.  Many  a  young  preacher,  of  good 
education  and  fair  ability,  has  settled  down  on  a  good 
salary,  paid  him  by  a  church  of  some  other  man's  build- 
ing, who  has  seen  it  gradually  grow  weaker  under  his 
ministry,  and  wondered  why  it  should  be  so,  never  sus- 
pecting that  he,  himself,  lacked  the  culture  and  developed 
power  that  can  come  only  from  experience  in  building  up 
the  cause  in  newer  fields.  What  young  physician  expects 
difficult  and  dangerous  cases  to  be  at  once  intrusted  to 
him?  or  what  young  lawyer  expects,  at  the  very  outset  of 
his  practice,  to  become  counselor  at  law  in  great  causes 
with  large  fees?  A  young  man,  who  is  modest  in  his  ex- 
pectations, will  not  be  chagrined  nor  discouraged  if  his 
client  or  his  patient  demand  that  an  experienced  man  be 
called  in,  and  would  naturally  look  up  to  him  in  the  case. 
But  there  are  many  young  men,  just  out  of  school,  and 
with  no  more  than  three  or  four  years'  experience  in  pub- 
lic life,  and  that  chiefly  in  school,  who  boldly  seek  and 
assume  the  "pastoral  care"  of  an  old  church  at  a  full 
salary.  "The  children  of  this  world  are  wiser  in  their 
generation  than  the  children  of  light,"  and,  unfortunately 
for  old  churches,  the  people  do  not  generally  feel  them- 
selves personally  and  directly  interested  in  the  affairs  of 
religion,  as  they  do  when  they  fall  sick,  and  will  commit 
its  advocacy  recklessly  into  the  hands  of  youth  and  inex- 


94  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

perience.  The  class  of  young  ministers  referred  to  are 
always  watching  for  such  places.  But,  within  a  year  or 
two  the  membership  scatters,  and  the  attendance  of  "out- 
siders" falls  off.  The  money  for  the  next  year's  salary 
cannot  be  raised.  A  young  man  who  has  given  himself 
to  the  "ministerial  profession"  is  out  of  work,  and  is 
"  seeking  a  location."  The  number  of  young  men  who 
are  undergoing  this  experience  is  large  and  increasing, 
and  they  are  much  to  be  pitied.  How  is  their  case  to  be 
bettered  ?  How  can  it  be  arranged  that  the  places  shall 
seek  the  men,  and  not  the  men  the  places  ?  There  are 
preachers  whose  services  are  in  demand,  but  they  are  those 
who  have  the  courage  to  work  in  hard  places  as  well  as 
easy  ones. 

Benjamin  Franklin  had  no  trouble  about  places  to 
preach.  He  preached  in  school-houses,  court-houses, 
barns,  groves,  shops,  town  halls,  and  private  dwellings — 
wherever  a  congregation  of  people  could  be  collected  to- 
gether;  took  whatever  the  brethren  chose  to  give  him, 
and  made  no  complaint  if  he  received  nothing.  When 
these  two  trips  were  planned,  there  was  no  assurance  that 
he  would  get  fifty  cents  a  day  for  the  seven  weeks  engaged. 
Brethren  in  different  places  on  the  routes  had  been  read- 
ing his  paper,  and  on  sending  in  their  subscriptions,  had 
given  a  general  invitation  to  "  come  up  this  way  some- 
time and  hold  us  a  meeting."  On  so  slender  an  assurance 
of  pay,  he  harnessed  his  horse  with  his  own  hands  and 
set  off,  over  new  and  bad  roads,  to  fill  a  number  of  ap- 
pointments which  he  had  sent  forward  in  time  to  have 
them  published — one  night,  two  nights,  or  "  Saturday 
night  and  over  Lord's  day,"  in  a  place — on  one  route 
going  out,  and  another  returning.  On  he  pressed,  through 
the  mud,  over  "  cour-de-roy  "  or  pole-bridge  roads,  in 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  95 

sunshine  or  in  shower,  in  heat  or  in  cold,  among  strangers 
or  among  friends,  but  always  full  of  the  story  of  man's 
redemption  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  eager  to 
tell  it  to  a  score,  or  a  hundred,  or  a  thousand.  Still,  on 
he  went,  lodging  one  night  with  a  well-to-do  brother  in 
some  large  town,  and  enjoying  all  the  luxuries  of  wealth, 
and  the  next,  perchance,  in  the  log  cabin  of  some  poor 
man  in  the  forest,  sleeping  in  a  "  loft  "  with  only  a  roof 
of  rough  "clap-boards"  above  him,  through  which  the 
snow  sifted  upon  a  bed  with  a  scanty  supply  of  covering, 
and  fed  with  corn-bread,  hominy,  and  flesh  of  swine  fatted 
on  acorns  or  hickory  nuts,  or  the  wild  meat  of  the  pheas- 
ant and  the  deer. 

The  records  of  eternity  only  can  reveal  whether  much 
permanent  good  was  accomplished  for  the  people  among 
whom  he  went  in  such  a  flitting  itineracy.  The  new,  rich 
soil  of  freshly-cleared  ground  needs  but  a  scratching  to 
prepare  it  for  the  seed  of  a  bountiful  harvest.  The  old 
fields,  long  opened  to  the  drenching  spring  rains  and 
scorching  summer  suns,  must  be  subsoiled  and  rolled  and 
harrowed,  with  great  discretion,  before  they  can  be  in- 
duced to  yield  the  same  bountiful  harvest.  So  it  was  with 
the  people  of  that  generation.  They  had  little  to  read 
but  the  Bible,  and  they  had  nearly  memorized  its  contents. 
A  discourse  on  "The  Division  of  The  Weird/'  "The  Great 
Commission, "  or  on  "The  Second  Chapter  of  Acts,"  con- 
veyed all  the  instruction  necessary  to  fix  a  man  forever  in 
the  "first  principles  of  the  current  reformation."  Now- 
a-days  our  minds  are  plied  with  quarterly,  monthly, 
weekly  and  daily  magazines  and  newspapers,  and  every 
man  is  strained  with  the  attempt  to  grasp  all  the  leading 
events  of  yesterday,  the  world  over.  We  are  too  busy  to 
care  much  about  religion.     The  preacher  must  therefore 


96  THE   LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF 

subsoil  with  about  a  dozen  great  sermons  on  general  sub- 
jects, harrow  and  cross-harrow  with  as  many  more  sermons 
on  the  details  of  religion,  and  roll  down  with  a  tremendous 
power  of  exhortation,  before  the  human  heart  can  be  pre- 
pared for  the  reception  of  the  "good  seed,"  "the  word  of 
the  kingdom."  It  may  therefore  be  assumed  that  these 
journeys  accomplished  much  immediate  good  among  the 
people. 

But  the  benefit  to  himself  was  very  great  and  very  prac- 
tical. He  very  rapidly  enlarged  his  views  of  men  and 
things.  He  saw  society  every  week,  from  the  lowest  de- 
gree of  rude  illiteracy  in  the  forest,  up  to  the  highest  de- 
gree of  culture  and  refinement  attained  in  our  larger  towns 
and  cities.  Ere  he  was  forty  years  old  he  was  self-poised 
and  at  home  anywhere.  From  his  enlarged  experience  he 
was  enabled  to  draw  incidents  illustrative  of  the  doctrine  he 
preached,  and  his  thorough  knowledge  of  society  could 
readily  adapt  his  illustrations  to  the  congregation  assem- 
bled to  hear  him.  All  who  have  critically  observed  his 
discourses  concede  that  herein  lay  his  great  power  over  an 
audience.  While  the  mind  of  the  hearer  was  seeking  to 
grasp  a  thought,  a  happily-chosen  incident  engraved  it  on 
the  memory  forever.  Could  he  have  had  the  advantage 
of  good  schools,  that  all  our  young  men  now  can  have  by 
the  time  they  are  twenty-two,  and  then  have  started  on  the 
career  he  ran,  it  is  impossible  to  tell  how  much  more  power 
for  good  he  might  have  had.  On  the  other  hand,  however, 
had  he  mastered  a  college  course  in  his  youth,  it  may 
be  doubtful  if  he  would  have  had  the  physical  endurance, 
thereafter,  to  go  through  the  work  which  he  accomplished. 
Two  years  in  a  good  elementary  school  would  have  so  pre- 
pared him  as  to  relieve  him  of  much  embarrassing  criticism 
and  of  the  study  of  language,  when  he  desired  to  give  his 
whole  mental  force  to  the  study  of  the  Bible. 


ELDE£   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  97 

The  general  inference  from  the  history  of  such  men  is, 
that  many  of  our  young  preachers  are  relying  too  much 
on  what  they  learned  in  school,  and  are  too  fearful  of  their 
hands,  their  polished  boots,  and  immaculate  ^clothing,  to 
go  among  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  learn  from  them 
what  they  can  learn  nowhere  else,  and  without  which  they 
cannot  succeed  in  the  ministry  or  in  any  other  vocation. 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  deficient  in  his  early  education ; 
but  he  was  not  at  any  time  of  his  long  career,  deficient  in 
opportunities  for  useful  and  agreeable  employment — he 
never  occupied  the  humiliating  position  of  a  place-hunter . 

Notwithstanding  their  early  deprivations,  the  family  of 
Benjamin  Franklin  enjoyed  more  than  average  good 
health,  and  the  family  circle  remained  complete,  excepting 
the  death  of  an  infant  daughter  in  1841,  and  an  infant  son 
in  1855.* 

The  death  of  the  infant  daughter,  Sophia,  one  of  the 
twins,  occurred  under  circumstances  very  trying  to  its 
mother.  Mr.  Franklin  had  gone  to  an  appointment  some 
fifteen  miles  from  home.     It  was  very  cold  weather,  and 


*  A  large  family  connection,  and  many  personal  friends  not  related  by  ties 
of  consanguinity,  may  be  interested  in  the  following,  condensed  from  the 
family  record: 

Joseph  Franklin  was  born,  Sept.  13th,  1834. 

James  Franklin  was  born,  Nov.  7th,  1835. 

Matilda  Franklin  was  born,  Aug.  2d,  1837. 

Sarah  Franklin  was  born,  Feb.  22,  1839. 

Elizabeth  and  Sophia  Franklin  were  born,  Oct.  28th,  1840. 

Isabelle  Franklin  was  born,  Aug.  24th,  1842,  at  New  Lisbon,  Henry  Co.,  Ind. 

Martha  Franklin  was  born,  Dec.  31st,  1845,  at  Centerville,  Wayne  Co.,  Ind. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  Jr.,  was  born,  Aug.  31st,  1850,  at  Hygeia,  Ohio. 

Alexander  Campbell  Franklin  was  born,  May  11th,  1852,  at  Cincinnati. 

Walter  Scott  Franklin  was  born,  Jan.  24th,  1854,  at  Cincinnati. 

Sophia  Franklin  died,  Jan.  15th,  1841,  near  Middletown. 

Walter  S.  Franklin  died,  June  17th,  1855,  at  Cincinnati. 

Nine  are  living,  all  of  whom  are  married,  all  have  one  or  more  children, 
SUd.  neither  has  ever  lost  a  companion,  J,  f. 


98  THE    LIFE    AND   TIME^  OF 

the  family  were  living  in  an  unfinished  frame  house.  To 
economize  beds  and  bed-clothing,  and  to  insure  warmth 
to  all,  Mrs.  Franklin  put  the  three  older  children  into  one 
bed  and  took  the  other  three  into  her  own  bed.  In  the 
morning  she  arose,  made  a  good  fire,  and  was  prepar- 
ing breakfast,  when  one  of  the  twins  became  restless.  She 
took  it  to  the  fire  and  cared  for  it  until  it  became  quiet, 
when  she  laid  it  in  the  bed.  Thinking  the  other  might 
need  attention,  she  took  it  to  the  fire,  and,  on  removing 
the  blanket  in  which  it  was  wrapped,  was  about  to  give  it 
a  mother's  caress.  The  child  did  not  move.  She  held  it 
up  to  the  light — she  shook  it  gently,  but  it  moved  not. 
She  watched  and  listened  a  moment  for  its  breathing,  and 
then,  with  a  shriek  which  set  all  her  children  in  a  tumult, 
she  sank  back  in  her  chair.     Her  babe  was  dead! 

What  followed  in  the  next  hour  can  be  imagined,  but 
not  described.  All  the  children  were  mere  babes.  Their 
appetites  were  keen,  and  could  only  be  appeased  by  food. 
It  was  above  half  a  mile  to  the  nearest  neighbor,  and  no- 
body was  passing  that  way.  With  the  courage  of  despe- 
ration, she  laid  away  her  dead  child,  fed  all  her  children, 
and  wrapping  her  eldest  son,  being  then  only  a  little  over 
six  3'ears  of  age,  as  securely  against  the  intense  cold  as  she 
could,  started  him  off  to  tell  the  dreadful  news  at  his 
grand-father's,  three-fourths  of  a  mile  away  !  Insensible 
to  his  danger,  and  not  Half  realizing  the  calamity  which 
necessitated  his  going,  the  son  set  forth  on  his  errand. 
But  a  gracious  Providence  attended  his  footsteps,  and  in 
a  short  time  sympathizing  friends  were  at  hand  to  relieve 
the  cares  of  the  half-distracted  mother. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1845,  Mr.  Franklin  came  home 
from  an  appointment  very  sick,  and  immediately  took  to 
his  bed  with  a,  disease  then  called  congestive  feyer.  Dr,  Q, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  99 

W.  Peck,  of  Eaton,  Ohio, was  summoned.  The  distance  was 
twenty -two  miles.  Medical  reformation  had  a  certain  at- 
traction for  those  who  were  heartily  ensrasred  in  religious 
reformation,  and  many  were  almost  as  conscientiously 
opposed  to  calomel  and  the  lancet,  as  they  were  to  infant 
sprinkling.  Dr.  Peck  was  a  "  Botanic  Doctor,"  and 
withal  a  thorough-going  Disciple.  Hence  his  call  at  so 
great  a  distance.  He  made  two  visits,  and  at  the  second 
took  Mr.  Franklin  home  with  him  and  kept  him  under 
treatment  two  weeks.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was 
able  to  return  to  his  family. 

On  his  return  from  Petersburg,  Ky.,  he  received  news 
of  his  father's  death,  which  occurred  October  13th,  1845. 
Before  the  tears  of  affliction  ceased  to  flow,  and  perhaps 
drawn  together  by  sympathy  in  their  common  loss,  his 
brother,  Joseph  Franklin,  Jr.,  accompanied  by  a  wife 
and  infant  child,  made  him  a  visit.  Joseph  was  sick  at 
the  time  of  his  arrival,  and  at  once  took  to  his  bed  with 
congestive  fever.  For  three  weeks  he  lay  and  suffered 
very  greatly,  sinking  steadily,  until  November  18th,  when 
he  breathed  his  last.  He  died  in  the  twenty-sixth  year 
of  his  age,  after  having  been  a  devoted  Disciple  nearly 
ten  years,  and  a  preacher  for  five  or  six  years.  His  last 
words  were,  "  Praises  to  God  for  the  hope  of  eternal  life 
revealed  in  Jesus  Christ  the  Dora.*'  During  this  illness 
of  his  brother,  and  for  some  weeks  afterward,  Mr.  Frank- 
lin's eldest  son,  then  in  his  twelfth  year,  lay  almost  in 
the  jaws  of  death  with  the  same  disease ;  but  for  some 
inscrutable  purpose  in  the  providence  of  God,  was  spared 
to  tell  what  he  remembered,  and  what  he  has  often  since 
heard  his  mother  recount,  of  the  sorrows  of  that  Autumn. 
The  third  part  of  a  century  has  passed  away  since  that 
time,  one  generation  has  gone  aud  another  has  come,  but 


100  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

those  days  of  trial  left  an  impression  on  memory's  tablet 
that  another  generation  will  not  efface.  One  thing  that 
happened  then  was  not  appreciated  fully  for  years  after- 
ward. A  mother's  affectionate  tenderness,  which  was 
almost  a  burden  to  her  restored  son,  is  much  better  under- 
stood, now  that  memory  recalls  the  events  of  those  days, 
before  a  judgment  somewhat  ripened  by  the  experience 
of  years. 

There  are  some  women,  who,  though  they  have  hus- 
bands and  children,  are  hardly  wives  and  mothers.  Wrapt 
forever  in  a  mantle  of  selfishness,  they  conceive  that 
everybody  is  seeking  to  cheat  them  out  of  all  comfort, 
and  that  their  safety  depends  on  a  continuous  warfare  on 
all  around  them.  Husbands  and  children  live  in  a  storm, 
and  the  place  where  they  dwell  is  no  home.  But  there 
are  others  who  have  to  undergo  great  deprivations,  who 
are  closely  confined  at  home  and  live  in  poverty,  and  much 
of  their  time  alone  with  their  children,  but  whose  hearts 
never  weary  of  affection  and  kindness.  Year  after  year 
they  suffer  on,  with  few  or  no  worldly  comforts,  except 
their  love  for  their  husbands  and  children,  yet  always  so 
kind  and  forbearing  that  the  hearts  of  their  children  go 
back  to  "  mother  "  with  a  thrill  that  no  pen  nor  tongue 
can  describe.  She,  whose  precious  memory  inspires  this 
feeble  tribute,  underwent  privation,  toil  and  loneliness, 
without  bitterness,  because  her  heart  was  fixed  in  the 
same  deep  conviction  of  truth  that  took  her  husband  away 
from  her  side  and  away  from  more  remunerative  employ- 
ment to  preach  to  sinners  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.  She  is  of  the  number  of  those  who  count  all 
things  but  loss  if  they  may  win  Christ.  And  now  that 
the  great  burden  of  life  has  been  lifted  from  her  should- 
cjers,  her  activity  greatly  lessened  by  age  and  infirmity, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN   FBAN&Lltf.  '  101 

she  sits,  day  after  day,  in  her  arm-chair,  while  her  hands, 
which  will  not  be  idle,  are  employed  in  the  interest  of  her 
grand-children,  the  same  patient  soul  she  always  was, 

44  Only  waiting  till  the  shadows 
Are  a  little  longer  grown." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

TV  EAR  the  conclusion  of  the  fourth  volume  of  the 
\  Reformer,  the  editor  began  to  feel  the  want  of  room 
in  his  little  publications.  Subscribers  had  multi- 
plied and  correspondents  greatly  increased.  Everything 
seemed  ready  for  an  enlargement.  Volume  four  was  hur- 
ried through  at  the  rate  of  a  number  each  week,  and 
brought  to  a  close  as  early  as  October,  1846.  Some  cor- 
respondents complained  that  their  articles  were  not  pub- 
lished, to  whom  the  editor  responded:  "The  brethren 
will  please  have  patience  with  us  till  we  get  out  of  this 
little  volume,  and  commence  one  large  enough  to  give  us 
elbow  room.,, 

In  Novenjber,  1846,  the  first  number  of  the  enlarged 
volume  appeared.  It  contained  sixty-four  pages,  and  bore 
a  neatly-printed  cover.  There  were  no  advertisements 
admitted  except  upon  the  cover.  The  editor  sometimes, 
noticed  books,  periodicals,  high-schools  and  colleges,  in  a 
paragraph  or  two  on  the  last  page  of  a  number,  but  inser- 
ted no  advertisement  except  the  terms  of  The  Reformer 
itself.  The  periodical  was  published  at  one  dollar  per 
annum,  a  price  so  low,  that  other  publishers  protested. 
The  Christian  Record,  by  J.  M.  Mathes,  on  receipt  of  the 
prospectus,  said  : 

"  Brother  Franklin  has  just  issued  proposals  for  en- 
larging  The  Reformer.  He  now  proposes  to  put  up  the 
next  volume  in  printed  covers,  64  pages,  12mo.,  to  the 
number,  and  12  numbers  to  the  volume,  at  the  exceedingly 
low  price  of  one  dollar  per  volume,  in  advance  I  Bro.  F. 
seems  disposed  to  outdo  all  creation  in  the  cheapness  of 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  103 

his  paper ;  but,  as  far  as  I  know,  there  is  but  one  opinion 
on  the  subject,  and  that  is,  he  cannot  afford  it" 

To  this  Mr.  Franklin  responded:  "If  the  brethren  can 
be  induced  to  believe  that  we  'cannot  afford  it/  and  thus 
deterred  from  taking  it,  we  will  be  compelled  to  acquiesce 
in  the  'one  opinion  on  the  subject ;'  but  should  we  simply 
hold  our  subscription  to  its  present  size,  and  receive  our 
dues  as  promptly  as  heretofore,  we  can  afford  it,  and  by 
the  divine  blessing  will  afford  it.  But  we  expect  better 
things  than  this,  for  we  are  receiving  new  subscribers  every 
day." 

He  was  greatly  aided  in  publishing  so  cheap  a  paper  by 
employing  his  own  family  in  the  work  upon  it.  He  was 
his  own  book-keeper,  proof-reader,  and  mailer.  His  eldest 
son  set  the  type  and  superintended  the  press-work.  His 
second  son  was  "roller-boy"  to  the  old  fashioned  hand- 
press  on  which  it  was  printed,  and  filled  the  position  called 
by  printers  ever  since  the  days  of  Faust,  "the  devil." 
His  daughter  folded,  stitched  and  covered  the  pamphlets. 
'The  office  was  kept  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  house  in 
which  he  lived.  By  such  methods  of  economy  he  did 
"  afford' '  to  publish  the  paper  at  the  price  named,  and 
even  realized  some  profit  from  the  publication. 

In  the  "Introduction"  to  the  fifth  and  enlarged  volume 
the  editor  said :  "The  fourth  volume  of  The  Reformer  is 
now  completed  and  sent  to  our  readers.  Two  years  have 
now  fled  since  we  took  charge  of  this  little  publication, 
and  it  is  for  God  and  our  readers  to  judge  of  its  usefulness, 
and  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  conducted.  We  only 
can  say  this  much :  we  have  done  our  best  to  make  it  in- 
teresting and  useful,  yet  it  would  be  more  than  human 
not  to  have  fallen  into  some  improprieties  and  imperfec- 
tions.    But  its  rapid  increase  of  readers,    with  the  ready 


104  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

response  to  its'  enlargement,  furnishes  us  one  strong  assu- 
rance of  its  acceptance  with  the  people.  We  have  thus 
far  met  with  more  encouragements  than  we  expected.  It 
is  now  well  understood  that  publications  can  wield  a  mighty 
influence  for  good  or  evil,  and  it  is  already  seen  that  the 
instrument  that  is  mighty  in  vindication  of  truth,  must 
necessarily  have  power  to  do  much  in  opposition  to  truth." 

The  reasons  given  for  enlargement  are  stated  as  follows  : 
"We  supposed  that  a  cheap  paper  would  be  taken  by 
many  who  would  not  read  a  large  paper,  or  were  unable 
to  pay  for  one.  But  this  we  soon  found  to  be  attended 
with  many  disadvantages  which  we  had  not  thought  of. 
Many  of  our  readers  expected  us  to  write,  or  give  space 
to  others  to  write,  on  all  the  great  religious  questions  of 
the  day.  Each  one  supposed  we  might  at  least  find  room 
for  his  favorite  topic,  and  if  we  did  not  do  it,  we  were 
branded  with  a  fear  of  investigation,  bigotry,  or  some 
other  evil  thing.  Not  only  so  ;  but  if  we  commenced  an 
article  on  any  subject,  no  matter  how  interesting,  we 
were  compelled  to  cut  it  off  in  the  midst  for  want  of  room. 
Many  important  articles  had  to  be  passed  in  entire  silence, 
and  many  subjects  could  not  be  touched  at  all.  We  also 
found  that  so  far  from  getting  our  pay  more  readily  be- 
cause the  amount  was  small,  it  was  more  difficult  to  send 
to  us,  and  more  liable  to  be  neglected,  and  we  were  told 
by  all  who  conversed  with  us  on  the  subject,  that  they 
would  much  rather  have  a  paper  worth  a  dollar." 

According  to  his  custom,  he  gave  an  outline  of  the  work 
he  hoped  to  accomplish  throughout  the  year.  We  give 
the  main  points  as  set  forth  in  this  "Introduction  :" 

"1.  Infidelity  in  its  various  bearings  and  phases,  shall 
receive  due  attention,  together  with  the  best  evidences  of 
the  divine  authenticity  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  we  shall 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  105 

be  able  to  lay  before  the  people  from  the  several  resources 
now  at  our  command."    , 

"2.  We  shall  labor  to  the  utmost  extent  of  our  ability 
to  throw  all  the  light  possible  on  divine  revelation.  This 
we  look  upon  as  the  most  important  branch  of  religious 
edification  and  we  shall  spare  no  pains  in  giving  all  the 
satisfaction  possible. 

"3  We  shall  take  several  of  the  sectarian  systems  of 
the  day  through  a  tolerably  careful  though  courteous  ex- 
amination. We  shall  do  this  because  we  shall  have  the  op- 
portunity of  placing  our  pamphlet  in  the  hands  of  many 
who  are  entirely  unacquainted  with  our  method  of  teaching 
the  gospel. 

"4.  We  shall  write  a  series  of  dialogues  or  conversa- 
tions, calculated  to  set  forth  the  spirit  and  practice,  the 
nature  and  tendency  of  the  various  operations  of  the  times. 
This  style  shall  be  employed  because  it  is  more  attract- 
ive, and  we  can  make  many  things  more  striking  and 
forcible  in  this  way  than  any  other. 

*'5.  A  considerable  portion  will  constantly  be  open  for 
those  who  may  wish  to  make  their  objections  to  our 
operations,  and  our  replies  to  them.  This  we  shall  hope 
to  make  an  interesting  portion  of  the  work,  to  those  who 
take  any  pleasure  in  light  elicited  in  this  way. 

"6  Interesting  items  of  foreign  religious  news  will  oc- 
casionally find  a  place  in  our  paper.  News  from  the 
churches,  with  so  much  of  the  wonderful  and  mysterious 
phenomena  as  we  shall  be  able  from  time  to  time  to  notice 
in  the  moral  heavens,  shall  be  faithfully  reported  for  the 
satisfaction  of  our  readers." 

The  following  sentence  contains  what  would  be  consid- 
ered  as  boasting,  were  it  not  known  that  Mr.  Franklin 
did  exactly  what  he  proposed:  "One  of  the  first  duties 
6 


106  THE    LIFE    AND    TUIES    OF 

of  editors  is  to  encourage  and  assist  proclaim ers  of  the 
Word.  We  therefore  propose  to  make  a  present  of  fifty 
copies  of  the  Reformer  to  fifty  preachers  who  devote  their 
whole  time  to  the  work,  say  the  hest  things  we  can  say  for 
those  thus  engaged,  and,  the  Lord  being  our  helper, 
preach  as  many  sermons  as  any  preacher  in  the  State." 

It  is  true  that  from  the  time  he  began  his  editorial 
career  he  did  as  much  preaching  as  any  preacher,  and  a 
great  deal  more  than  the  majority  of  those  who  give  their 
whole  time  to  the  work.  To  their  shame  it  is  to  be 
written  that  many  preachers  who  do  nothing  else  but 
preach  are  content  to  preach  on  Saturday  night  and  twice 
on  Lord's  day  at  their  regular  appointments,  and  about 
once  a  year  hold  a  protracted  meeting  of  a  week  or  ten 
days  at  each  preaching-place.  A  man  who  does  no  more 
than  this  ought  to  reduce  his  pay  to  half  price  and  dig 
the  other  half  of  his  living  out  of  the  ground.  Very 
many  good  preachers,  however,  employ  their  time  profit- 
ably between  appointments. 

As  elsewhere  more  fully  set  forth,  the  Reformation  had 
assumed  its  Eastern, Southern  and  Western  phases.  There 
were  the  Western  Reserve  Reformers,  the  Caneridge(Ky.) 
Reformers,  and  the  Indiana  or  Western  Reformers,  a 
compound  of  the  other  two.  These  phases  were  not  doc- 
trinal differences.  There  was  the  fullest  fellowship  among 
them  all.  But  the  differences  consisted  mainly  in  the 
provincial  characters  of  men  East,  South  and  West. 
Recognizing  this,  The  Reformer,  now  distinctively  a 
Western  periodical,  was  changed  in  name  to  The  Western 
Reformer. 

In  his  engagements  as  a  preacher,  Mr.  Franklin  was 
gradually  drawn  to  western  part  of  Wayne  county  and 
Rush    county.     On  this  account  he   rather  suddenly  de- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  107 

cided  to  move  from  .  Centerville  westward  ten  miles  to 
Milton,  in  Wayne  county.  Decision  was  followed  by  im- 
mediate action.  The  family,  household  goods  and  print- 
ing office  were  loaded  upon  wagons  engaged  for  the  pur- 
pose,'and  hauled  over  to  Milton.  This  move  took  place 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  winter  of  1846-7,  in  February  or 
March . 

In  October,  1847,  Mr.  Franklin  held  a  discussion  in 
Milton  with  Erasmus  Manford,  a  Uni  vera  list  minister, 
and  editor  of  a  periodical  styled  The  Western  Univers- 
alis/.    The  propositions  discussed  were  the  following: 

'•1.  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  that  the  coming  of  Christ 
to  judge  the  world  is  future?  Mr.  Franklin  affirms,  and 
Mr.  Manford  denies. 

"2.  Do  the  Scriptues  teach  the  final  holiness  and  hap- 
piness of  all  mankind?  Mr.  Manford  affirms,  and  Mr. 
Franklin  denies. 

tl3.  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  that  those  who  die  in  dis- 
obedience to  the  Gospel  will  suffer  endless  punishment? 
Mr.  Franklin  affirms,  and  Mr.  Manford  denies.' ' 

The  debate  lasted  four  days.  By  previous  agreement 
both  parties  wrote  out  their  speeches,  introducing  no  argu- 
ments but  those  used  in  the  oral  discussion.  The  work 
was  printed  by  the  Indianapolis  Journal  Company  and 
made  a  book  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-eight  pages. 
This  was  Mr.  Franklin's  first  published  discussion. 

During  the  same  year,  one  Williamson  Terrell,  a  minister 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  became  dreadfully 
exasperated  at  the  spread  of  "  Campbellism,"  and  busied 
himself  with  an  effort  at  its  extermination.  The  Con- 
ference had  located  him  in  Eastern  Indiana,  so  that  he 
and  the  editor  of  the  Re former  were  continually  running 
across  each  other's  track.     Mr.  Franklin  chose  to   hold 


108  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

him  to  an  accountability  for  his  course.  He  was  very 
wary  however,  and  confined  himself  closely  to  his  pulpit. 
But* 'Letters  to  Mr.  Terrell,"  published  in  the  Reformer, 
counter  lectures,  aud  challenges,  finally  created  a  public 
feeling  which  brought  Mr.  Terrell  to  terms  and  proposi- 
tions for  a  public  discussion.  Arrangements  were  made  for 
Henry  R.  Pritchard,  a  very  able  proclaimer  of  the  ancient 
Gospel,  to  meet  Mr.  Terrell  and  debate  with  him  at  Fair- 
view,  in  Fayette  county.  But  nothing  could  prevail  upon 
him  to  enter  into  any  arrangement  for  having  the  debate 
printed.  The  discussion  took  place  in  November,  1847. 
Copious  notes  of  his  speeches  were  taken  by  Mr.  Frank- 
lin and  others,  who  wrote  his  speeches  for  him,  giving  all 
his  arguments  in  full  and  as  fairly  as  they  could.  Mr. 
Pritchard  wrote  out  his  own  speeches.  In  this  way  a 
very  readable  book  was  produced,  which  was  printed  in 
the  Reformer  office  and  had  a  considerable  sale. 

Mr.    Franklin's    next  debate  was  with  a  Universalist 

preacher  by  the  name  of Craven,  at  the  town  of 

Somerville,  Ohio.  Very  little  is  now  known  of  the  dis- 
cussion. Mr.  C.  was  irascible  in  temper  and  vociferous 
in  his  manner;  hallooed  very  loud,  and  brandished  his 
clenched  fists  over  the  head  of  his  opponent.  Mr.  Frank- 
lin's first  knowledge  of  this  man  was  gained  at  a  Univer- 
salist convention  in  Dayton.  Mr.  Craven  was  put  for- 
ward to  deliver  a  sermon  before  the  convention.  His  text 
was  the  words  of  the  serpent,  Genesis  hi,  5  :  "  Ye  shall 
be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil.V  The  editorial  ac- 
count of  this  discourse  in  the  Reformer  says:  "After 
pronouncing  these  words  with  a  great  flourish,  he  told  us 
he  would  proceed  to  address  us  on  the  Mission  of  Sin.  In 
doing  this,  we  could  see  but  one  thing  prais worthy  in  his 
entire  effort.     That  one  thing  was,  that  he  proved  true  to 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  1(T9 

his  master,  confined  himself  closely  to  the  text,  and  la- 
bored zealously  to  show  that  this  promise  of  the  devil 
would  be  fulfilled.  What  was  still  more  blasphemous  and 
ridiculous  was,  that  he  made  this  knowledge  —  Ye  shall 
be  as  gods  —  to  be  not  only  the  happiness  of  saints  here, 
but  of  all  men  in  the  eternal  world." 

The  war  with  Mexico  raised  among  Disciples  the  ques- 
tion whether  Christians  may  go  to  war  under  any  circum- 
stances. The  Reformer  took  the  ground  of  non-resistance 
held  by  the  American  Christian  Review  many  years  later, 
of  which  we  shall  give  account  hereafter.  There  were 
then  some  persons  who  chose  to  construe  the  editor's 
views  as  merely  a  matter  of  partisan  politics.  He  was  in 
sympathy,  they  said,  with  the  party  opposed  to  the  admin- 
istration. This  was  not  true ;  but  Mr.  Franklin  did  not 
see  fit  to  contradict  it.  He  argued  it  as  a  question  of 
Christian  morals,  aside  from  the  particular  issue  of  any 
war.  The  distinction  between  a  man  opposed  to  the  Mexi- 
can War,  because  he  was  opposed  to  the  political  admin- 
istration under  which  the  war  was  declared  and  waged, 
and  a  "  peace  man"  on  principle,  a  man  who  believed 
war  to  be  always  wrong,  he  drew  clear  and  sharp  :  «*  We 
feel  it  incumbent  on  us  farther  to  state,"  said  he,  M  that 
the  present  war  has  nothing  to  do  in  inducing  us  to  write 
on  this  question,  and  most  solemnly  to  avow  that  we  are 
not  actuated  by  any  party  political  feeling.  Some  men 
are  peace  men  because  of  their  political  partyism,  in  op- 
position to  the  present  war ;  but  for  such  peace  men  as 
these  we  have  no  sympathy,  .as  we  have  no  fellowship 
with  such  peace  principles.  The  great  question  is  whether 
all  war  is  not  at  variance  with  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ."  The  community  was  not  so  thoroughly  con- 
vulsed with  the  war  excitement  as  in  1861,  and  the  dis- 


11*0  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES   OF 

cussion  wont  on  until  the  editor  decided  that  enough  had 
been  written  on  both  sides,  and  closed  the  discussion. 

One  of  Eastern  Indiana's  pioneers  in  the  Reformation 
was  Samuel  K.  Hoshour,  who,  for  his  own  great  merits, 
as  well  as  an  intimate  associate  in  the  ministry  with  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  deserves  something  more  than  a  mere 
'«  honorable  mention."  His  name  occurs  quite  often  in 
the  Reformer,  as  a  writer,  a  teacher  and  a  preacher.  He 
was  at  this  time  teacher  of  a  high-school  in  Cambridge 
City,  Ind.,  two  miles  north  of  Milton.  Mr.  Hoshour  was 
born  in  York  county,  Pennsylvania,  December  9th,  1803. 
His  parents  were  German,  but  also  American  born.  Ger- 
man was  his  mother  tongue.  At  seventeen  years  of  age 
he  taught  his  first  school.  The  community  was  wholly 
German,  and  his  instructions  were  given  in  that  language. 

9  ©  ©         © 

Soon  after,  he  entered  an  English  school  and  began  to 
study  the  English  language.  So  completely  successful 
was  he  that  one  might  have  heard  him  preach  often  with- 
out ever  suspecting  that  English  was  not  his  mother 
tongue.  At  eighteen  he  joined  the  Lutheran  church. 
By  dint  of  perseverance,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a 
thorough  education,  and  became  a  minister  in  the  Luther- 
an church.  The  principles  of  the  Reformation  being 
preached  in  his  neighborhood,  he  set  himself  to  the  work 
of  opposing  the  heresy.  But  his  honest  mind  and  heart 
soon  grasped  the  truth,  and  he  became  a  member  of  "  the 
sect  which  was  everywhere  spoken  against."  This,  of 
course,  at  once  cut  off  his  means  of  a  living,  and  he  de- 
termined to  emigrate  to  the  West.  In  1.835  he  landed  at 
Centerville,  where  he  taught  school  four  years,  preaching 
on  each  Lord's  day,  and  succeeded  in  plauting  a  good  con- 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  Ill 

gregation  of  Disciples.*  In  1839  he  removed  to  Cam- 
bridge, where  we  find  him  at  the  time  of  which  we  are 
writing.  But,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1846,  his  failing 
health  warned  him  to  leave  the  school-room.  For  ten  or 
twelve  years  he  gave  himself  largely  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  resorting  to  teaching  German  occasionally  as  a 
means  of  supplementing  the  meager  income  he  derived 
from  preaching.  In  those  days  the  Disciples  were  much 
more  ready  to  pay  stirring  evangelists  who  could  hold 


*The  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Centerville  is  of  interest,  because 
of  the  residence  of  Benjamin  Franklin  in  that  town,  and  because  it  illustrates 
the  character  of  Samuel  K.  Hoshour,  and  also  the  spirit  of  Disciples  a  gener- 
eratiou  ago.  We  therefore  introduce  the  following  extract  from  "  Pioneer 
Preachers  of  Indiana  — Biographical  Sketch  of  Samuel  K.  Hoshour,"  p.  238: 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Centerville,  "  he  commenced  teaching  a  district 
school,  at  twenty  dollars  per  month  —  an  unprecedented  salary  in  that  day. 
Such  was  his  success,  that,  in  a  short  time,  he  was  elected  principal  of  Wayne 
County  Seminary,  in  which  he  taught  four  years  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of 
the  community. 

"  During  all  this  time  he  employed  his  Lord's  days  in  disseminating  the 
simple  Gospel  as  he  had  learned  it  and  most  devoutly  cherished  it.  In  Cen- 
terville the  court-house  was  his  sanctuary,  in  which  he  officiated  as  both 
preacher  and  sexton!  On  Saturdays  he  prepared  the  wood,  and  on  Sundays 
made  the  fires  and  preached.  The  Reformation  was  then  in  its  infancy  at 
that  place.  There  was  only  one  family— a  man  and  his  wife  — that  openly 
adhered  to  the  cause  for  which  Elder  Hoshour  plead.  These,  himself  and 
his  wife,  at  that  time  constituted  the  Church  of  Christ  at  that  place.  He 
acted  as  bishop,  the  lone  brother  as  deacon  and  the  two  wives  as  deaconesses ! 
There  was,  therefore,  little  cause  of  strife  and  division  in  that  chuich,  for 
each  member  held  an  office! 

**  Though  there  were  no  contentions  within,  it  was  not  long  until  he  felt 
from  without  the  sharp  points  of  sectarian  bigotry  and  intolerance.  But  he 
occasionally  made  a  proselyte,  and  by  the  help  of  others  succeeded  in  build- 
ing up  a  good  and  substantial  chcrch  at  that  place. 

"After  he  had  been  there  one  year,  the  Baptists,  many  of  whom  sanctioned 
his  preaching,  insisted  upon  his  uniting  with  them.  He  consented  to  do  so 
provided  they  would  allow  him  to  urge  upon  all  seekers  Peter's  answer 
to  the  question,  What  shall  we  do?  Acts  ii,  37.  To  this  there  was  some 
objection,  and  the  union  did  not  take  place.  In  the  process  of  time,  the  ma- 
jority of  the  Baptists  united  with  the  Christians,  to  whom  they  delivered  over 
their  commodious  hou,se  pf  worship." 


112  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

great  revivals  and  get  large  additions  to  the  church,  than 
the  steadier  men  whose  talent  lay  in  teaching  Christians 
how  to  live.  Mr.  Hoshour  was  a  very  experienced  teacher 
of  Christians,  but  no  revivalist.  He  therefore  always  re- 
ceived less  support  for  his  ministerial  labors  than  many 
less  deserving  men.  In  1858  he  was  elected  President  of 
Northwestern  Christian  University  (now  Butler  Univer- 
sity), in  which  capacity  he  served  three  years.  At  that 
time  the  University  Faculty  was  re-organized,  and  he  be- 
came Professor  of  Modern  Languages.  He  still  survives, 
aged  and  feeble  physically,  but  strong  in  faith,  and  waiting 
to  follow  the  host  of  cotemporaries  that  have  gone  before 
him  to  the  sweet  fields  of  Eden.  During  the  years  that 
the  Reformer  was  published  at  Milton,  Mr.  Hoshour 
brought  out  two  works :  an  Abridgement  of  Mosheim's 
Ecclesiastical  History,  which  was  published  from  the 
Reformer  office,  and  "Altisonant  Letters."  The  design 
of  the  latter  was  to  engross,  in  the  form  of  a  series  of  let- 
ters purporting  to  be  from  one  "Lorenzo  Altisonant"  to 
"Esquire  Pedant,"  all  obsolete  English  words.  It  was  a 
very  unique  production,  and  almost  as  unintelligible  to  the 
modern  English  reader  as  if  the  author  had  written  it  in 
his  own  mother  tongue.  The  "  Ecclesiastical  History  " 
was  probably  a  loss  to  the  publisher. 

About  this  time  was  formed  the  germ  of  educational 
enterprise  which  brought  the  Butler  University  into  being. 
The  Disciples  have  always  been  an  educational  people. 
The  freeing  of  their  minds  religiously  seems  to  have  de- 
veloped a  taste  for  intellectual  freedom  and  culture  in  all 
directions.  In  the  Western  Reformer,  July  1848,  Robert 
Gordon  announced  "to  the  friends  of  Education  and  the 
public  generally,  that  he  had  engaged  Mr.  Allen  R.  Benton, 
a  graduate  of  Bethany  College,   to  teach  a  Classical  and 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  113 

Mathematical  School,  in  the  village  of  Fairview,  to  com- 
mence the  last  of  July  and  continue  ten  months."     In 
1850  "Fairview  Academy"  was  announced  as  a  chartered 
institution,   "with  powers  equal  to  any  literary  institute 
in  the  State."     Young  men  from  all  parts  of  the  State 
flocked  to  it,  and  its  fame  was  soon  equal  to  that  of  many 
colleges  of  the  present  day.     Its  great  benefit  to  the  cause 
of  education,  and  indirectly  to  the  Reformation,  was  so 
manifest,  that  the  Disciples  soon  began  to  think  of  a  larger 
institution  and  more  centrally  located.     In  January,  1850, 
Ovid  Butler,  of  Indianapolis,  announced  that  a  charter  had 
been  obtained  which  "contemplates  the  founding  and  en- 
dowing of  a  University  through  the  instrumentality  of  a 
Joint   Stock  Company,    with  a  capital  of  not  less  than 
$75,000  nor  more  than  $500,000,  to  be  divided  into  shares 
of  $100  each."     With  considerable  difficulty  the  minimum 
of  stock  was  obtained.     Ovid  Butler  subscribed  very  lib- 
erally, and  the  first  building  was  erected  on  grounds  do- 
nated by  him,  and  situated  north-east  of  Indianapolis,  far 
enough  out,  as  was  then  supposed,  to  keep  students  clear 
of  unfavorable  city  influences.     A  large  central  building 
with   two  wings    was  planned,  but  only    one   wing   was 
erected.     The    Institution    was   known    as    the    "  North 
Western  Christian  University."     The  immense  growth  of 
Indianapolis,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  extended  the  city 
far  beyond  the  University.    The  grounds  became  very  valu- 
uable  and  were  sold  so  advantageously  as  to  greatly  enrich 
the  University.     At  the  same  time  citizens  of  Irvington, 
an  eastern  suburb  of  the  city,  in  order  to  improve  their 
location,  made  considerable  donations,  and  the  University 
was   removed   to    Irvington,  and  the  name    changed  to 
"Butler  University."     It  is  now  one  of  the  richest  educa- 
tional corporations  in  the  West,  and  is  duing  a  good  work, 


114  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

especially  in  the  education  of  young  men  who  desire  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

It  can  be  remembered  by  many  living  men  that  in  the 
earlier  divys  of  the  Reformation  the  songs  sung  were  very 
few  in  number,  while  the  number  of  tunes  employed  was 
still  less.  In  the  enthusiasm  of  the  days  when  nearly  all 
meetings  were  revivals,  tne  high  flow  of  spirits  led  every 
body  to  sing.  Hymn-books  were  almost  unknown  in 
many  places.  The  leader  and  one  or  two  others  some- 
times had  books,  but  the  masses  of  the  members  had 
memorized  the  few  hymns  which  were  used,  and  sang 
without  books.  But  the  period  of  continued  revivals 
could  not  last  always.  A  lull  came.  Young  people  grew 
up  who  had  not  learned  the  hymns.  During  this  period 
it  often  happened  that  the  singing  was  a  failure.  If  there 
was  a  brother  present  who  could  "raise  the  tune,"  it  hap- 
pened as  often  as  otherwise  that  he  had  no  book,  and 
when  the  brethren  were  called  on  to  sing  there  would  be 
an  awkward  pause  while  some  one  would  hand  him  a  book 
and  he  could  collect  his  musical  powers  so  as  to  be  able  to 
"pitch  the  tune"  about  right.  This  deplorable  state  of 
things  is  depicted  elsewhere,  with  comments  from  the 
editor  of  The  Reformer. 

As  the  number  of  the  Disciples  multiplied,  a  great 
want  in  respect  to  singing  began  to  be  felt.  Among  the 
first  to  make  a  special  effort  to  supply  the  want  were 
Silas  W.  Leonard  and  Augustus  D.  Fillmore.  These  men 
had  committed  themselves  to  what  was  by  many  supposed 
to  be  a  reform  in  musical  notation.  Thomas  Harrison 
had  contrived  a  numeral  system  of  notation  and  printed 
one  or  two  small  books  in  his  system.  Leonard  and 
Fillmore  thought  that  this  would  so  simplify  music  that 
many  who  could  not  or  would  not  learn  to  sing  by  the 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  115 

standard  system  of  round  notes,  would  learn  to  read 
music  in  numeral  notes.  They,  therefore,  set  to  work 
to  arrange  a  hymn  and  tune-book,  which  they  called  M  The 
Christian  Psalmist."  Part  first  was  issued  in  July,  1847. 
The  book  came  out  in  three  parts — part  first  in  round 
notes,  part  second  in  patent,  or  "  buckwheat,"  notes,  and 
part  third  in  numeral  notes.  The  effect  of  this  book  was 
very' great  and  very  beneficial.  It  would  not  have  passed 
the  test  in  the  hands  of  a  thorough  musician,  though  in 
its  later  editions  it  was  greatly  improved  ;  but  it  was  a 
very  popular  book.  It  contained  a  good  selection  of 
hjmms  and  a  variety  of  easy  and  popular  airs.  By  its 
aid  a  great  many  persons  obtained  a  little  skill  in  reading 
music.  Sininn^-schools  and  siii2fin2:-circles  were  formed 
everywhere.  The  services  of  the  authors  of  the  Psalmist 
were  in  great  demand.  Scores  who  learned  from  them 
went  to  teaching  music  in  the  churches.  It  happened 
then,  as  it  has  always  happened  in  a  majority  of  churches 
when  an  effort  is  made  to  improve  the  singing,  that  the 
middle-aged  and  older  members  took  but  little  interest 
beyond  paying  their  proportion  of  the  expense.  The 
good  work  was  left  too  much  to  .the  young  people.  At 
middle  age  the  majority  of  people  give  up  the  idea 
of  learning  to  sing,  and  indeed,  cease  to  sing  at  all.  What 
would  be  the  result,  if  the  preaching,  the  public  prayers, 
and  exhortations,  should  be  surrendered  into  the  hands 
of  people  under  twenty-five  years  of  age  !  Singing  is  part 
of  the  worship.  It  demands  the  wise  counsels  and  ripe 
experience  of  the  elders  in  the  churches  for  its  supervision 
and  management,  A  bitter  controversy  on  a  perplexing 
question  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  here- 
after, might  have  been  avoided  by  such  a  supervision  of 
the  singing  as  the  nature  of  all  the  acts  of  public  worship 


116  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OP 

require  that  they  should  have.  The  sentiment  of  the 
songs,  the  dignity  of  the  music,  and  the  spirit  of  true 
devotion  in  the  act  of  singing,  are  very  proper  subjects 
of  ministerial  instruction. 

Probably  several  books  of  equal  merit  have  been  issued 
since,  but  none  have  had  such  a  popular  influence  upon 
the  singing  of  the  churches  generally,  until  the  "  Chris- 
tian Hymnal"  appeared.  This  book  has  been  subjected 
to  the  same  sort  of  criticism  that  the  "  Christian  Psalmist " 
was;  but  its  comprehension  of  so  great  a  number  of 
standard  tunes  and  hymns,  and  the  fact  that  it  has  gone 
into  such  general  use,  will  render  its  displacement  very 
difficult.  Indeed,  an  effort  to  displace  it  would  be  an 
act  of  very  questionable  propriety. 

The  editor  of  the  Reformer  was  never  able  to  sing 
any  time  in  his  life.  But  his  mind  and  heart  went  with 
the  sacred  song  always.  His  free  criticisms  upon  the 
sentiment  sung  have  brought  the  blush  upon  the  cheek  of 
many  worshipers  who  thoughtlessly  sang  a  piece  because 
they  chanced  to  fancy  the  tune  set  to  it,  while  his  severe 
rebukes  of  those  who  sang  in  the  church  as  if  they  had 
been  members  of  a  singing  -school  class  have  had  their 
influence  upon  thousands  of  young  people.  Many  of  our 
readers  who  have  attended  his  protracted  meetings  will  re- 
call incidents  illustrating  what  we  have  just  written  con- 
cerning him.  Once,  at  Anderson, we  had  sung  with  great 
spirit   the  hymn,  commencing, 

"  There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight," 

just  as  it  is  printed  in  the  Hymnal,  and  to  the  music 
therein  set  to  it.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  singing,  he 
stood  for  a  moment  looking  round  upon  the  members,  his 
eyes,  as  our  sister  said,  "  hanging  out  like  the  knobs  on 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  117 

a  bureau  drawer."  All  knew  that  something  a  little  out 
of  the  regular  line  was  coming.  Presently  he  began  to 
quote  expressions  from  the  former  part  of  the  third  stanza 
(he  never  could  quote  a  whole  stanza)  :  "  those  gloomy 
doubts  that  rise  ;  "  "  see  Canaan  with  unbeclouded  eyes." 
His  manner  was  slow  and  deliberate,  and  his  tone  exceed- 
ingly contemptuous.  Then  he  asked,  while  every  person 
in  the  audience-room  could  have  heard  his  own  heart 
beat:  "Do  you  Christians  really  have  those  *  gloomy 
doubts  ?  •  Are  your  eyes  of  faith  really  so  clouded  that 
you  cannot  distinctly  see  "the  Canaan  that  we  love?'* 
The  lesson  was  not  soon  forgotten. 

He  took  the  same  heartfelt  interest  in  the  singing,  al- 
though  he  could  not  sing  himself,  that  he  did  in  all  acts 
of  worship.  As  a  preacher,  he  had  long  realized  the  want 
of  some  intelligent  means  for  the  improvement  of  the 
singing  in  the  churches.  He  had  witnessed  the  great 
benefit  of  a  little  systematic  effort  to  learn  to  "  sing  by 
note"  in  several  churches,  and  therefore,  when  the 
"  Christian  Psalmist "  appeared,  he  gave  it  his  warm  ap- 
proval. Besides  the  regular  advertisement  on  the  cover 
of  his  pamphlet,  he  gave  frequent  notices  favorable  to  the 
work  urging  its  use  in  all  the  churches. 

In  the  Reformer  for  March,  1847,  was  published  the 
prospectus  of  a  covered  pamphlet  of  forty-eight  pages,  a 
monthly  periodical,  called  The  Gospel  Proclamation,  to  be 
issued  from  Loydsville,  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  and  pub- 
lished by  Alexander  Hall. 

This  is  our  introduction  to  a  very  remarkable  man.  Mr. 
Hall  was  a  preacher  among  the  Reformers  in  Eastern  Ohio. 
He  was  possessed  of  a  very  great  memory,  and  was  ex- 
ceedingly shrewd.  He  came  into  prominence  as  an  antag- 
onist of  the  Universal ists.     He  soon  learned  all  the  argu- 


118  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP 

ments  of  Universalists  and  passages  of  Scripture  quoted  by 
them  in  support  of  their  doctrines,  how  they  construed  and 
applied  them,  and  framed  a  reply.  He  usually  contrived 
to  turn  the  arguments  and  the  Scriptures  quoted  by  Uni- 
versalists against  them.  For  instance,  a  favorite  Univer- 
salian  argument  of  those  clays  was  presented  as  follows : 
"  God  is  infinitely  good,  so  that  he  would  save  everybody 
if  he  could.  But  he  is  infinitely  powerful,  so  that  he  can 
save  everybody  if  he  will.  Therefore,  he  will  save  every- 
body.'' To  this  Mr.  Hall  replied,  first  quoting  the  Scrip- 
ture, "  Vengeance  belongs  to  me  ;  I  will  repay,  saith  the 
Lord  ;  "  "  God  is  infinite  in  vengeance,  so  that  he  would 
damn  everybody  if  he  could.  But  he  is  infinite  in 
power,  so  that  he  can  damn  everybody  if  he  will.  There- 
fore, he  will  damn  everybody."  Many  of  his  positions 
were  more  ingenious  than  tenable,  but  as  he  knew  their 
whole  theory  perfectly,  and  was  instantly  ready  with  a 
response  to  everything  they  brought  forward,  he  was  a 
most  formidable  antagonist.  It  is  related  of  him  that,  on 
one  occasion,  he  engaged  to  meet  a  Universalist  in  debate. 
The  day  came,  and  the  debaters  met.  The  Universalist 
had  a  great  load  of  books,  and  a  large  amount  of  notes. 
Mr.  Hall  appeared  without  even  a  Bible,  or  a  pencil  to 
note  the  points  made  by  his  opponent.  The  Universalist 
made  an  opening  speech  on  the  proposition  that,  "  The 
whole  human  family  will  finally  be  made  holy  and  happy." 
Mr.  Hall  rose  in  reply.  In  five  minutes  he  gave  his  reply 
to  the  opening  speech.  He  then  gave  a  statement  of  all 
the  arguments  that  the  Universalist  would  be  able  to 
make,  and  replied  to  each  of  them.  He  then  introduced 
what  he  called  several  negative  arguments,  and  sat  down 
before  his  time  was  out.  The  Universalist  was  so  over- 
come that  he  refused  to  go  any  farther,  declaring  that  he 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  119 

"  did  not  come  there  to  debute  with  a  man  who  knew 
everything  at  once,  and  that  could  talk  like  lightning." 
And  so  that  debate  ended. 

Some  time,  perhaps  half  a  year,  before  he  published 
the  prospectus  for  a  periodical  above  referred  to,  Mr.  Hall 
had  written  and  published  a  book,  entitled,  "Universal- 
ism  Against  Itself."  It  was  by  no  means  a  profound 
work.  So  rapid  a  man  could  not  be  profound  in  anything. 
But  it  was  an  unanswerable  book,  and  created  a  most 
profound  sensation.  Its  sale  has  hardly  ever  been  equalled 
by  any  book  published  by  the  Disciples.  Twenty-five 
thousand  copies  were  sold  in  less  than  two  years.  It 
found  ready  sale  among  all  denominations  opposed  to 
Universalists.  The  editor  of  the  Western  Universalist, 
Mr.  Manford,  was  especially  disturbed  by  it,  and  engaged 
one  of  their  ablest  writers  to  produce  a  reply  to  it.  In 
his  notice  of  the  reply,  he  says:  "Our  readers  are 
informed,  in  another  place,  that  a  book  bearing  the  title 
of  «  Universalism  Against  Itself,'  has  just  Jbeen  published, 
and  that  our  opposers  are  taking  measures  to  circulate  it 
far  and  near,  hoping  thereby  to  retard  the  onward  pro- 
gress of  our  most  holy  faith.  The  book  is  of  such  a  char- 
acter, that  it  will  for  a  long  time  hereafter  be  the  Text- 
Book,  from  which  our  opposers  will  draw  their  arguments 
in  opposing  Universalism,  and  hence  it  is  important  that 
the  friends  of  the  cause  it  opposes  should  have  in  their 
possession  a  triumphant  answTer  to  the  same,  and  this  I 
purpose  furnishing  to  all  the  readers  of  this  paper.  Every 
one  must  see  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  a  reply  to  the 
book,  as  it  will  undoubtedly  soon  be  in  the  hands  of  our 
opposers  all  over  the  land." 

The  tremendous  sale  of  this  book  gave  Mr.  Hall  a  very 
great  popularity,  and  opened  the  way  for  a  large  subscrip- 


120  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

tion  to  his  periodical,  the  Gospel  Proclamation.  The 
periodical  came  out  as  announced,  and  was  published  for 
two  years  by  Mr.  Hall,  at  Loydsville.  At  the  end  of  two 
years,  he  and  the  editor  of  the  Western  Reformer  came 
to  an  understanding,  in  accordance  with  which  their  two 
publications  were  united,  under  the  new  name  of  The 
Proclamation  and  Reformer,  This  union  took  place  in 
January,  1850.  Mr.  Hall  and  Wm.  Pinkerton  were  an- 
nounced as  co-editors.  The  lists  of  subscribers  were  all 
transferred  to  Mr.  Franklin,  and  the  periodical  was  pub- 
lished by  him  from  Milton,  as  the  Western  Reformer  had 
been.  The  title-page  to  the  bound  volume  is  endorsed 
as  follows:  "  Re  former,  Vol.  VIII;  Proclamation,  Vol. 
Ill;  Proclamation  and  Reformer,  Vol.  I."  The  "  co- 
editors  "  do  not  seem  to  have  taken  any  part  in  supplying 
matter  for  the  paper,  though  another  important  change, 
which  we  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  notice,  may  have 
been  the  means  of  cutting  them  off  early  in  that  year. 

Mr.  Franklin  announced  at  the  close  of  the  February 
number  that  seven  thousand  five  hundred  copies  of  the  first 
number  had  been  mailed  to  subscribers.  What  proportion 
of  these  came  from  Mr.  Hall's  lists  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing.  But  the  union  of  the  periodicals  was  not  an 
advantage  nor  any  real  gain  to  the  editor  of  the  Western 
Reformer.  It  turned  out  that  a  large  number  of  persons 
were  subscribers  to  both  papers,  and  before  the  lists  had 
been  corrected  two  copies  of  the  January  and  February 
numbers  had  been  sent  to  these.  A  great  many  of  the 
newly-added  subscribers  never  responded  to  the  receipt 
of  the  paper,  and  their  names  had  to  be  dropped  from  the 
lists  after  sending  them  three  or  four  numbers.  Two 
thousand  dollars  were  due  on  former  volumes  of  the 
Western  Reformer.      These  circumstances   considerably 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  121 

embarrassed  the  editor  for  the  time,  and  probably  had 
some  influence  in  hurrying  forward  the  new  arrangement. 

Among  the  premiums  offered  during  this  connection 
with  Alexander  Hall  were  a  discourse  by  Mr.  Hall  on 
"Both  Sides  of  Water  Baptism,"  and  a  "Baptismal 
Chart."  This  discourse,  like  "  Universal  ism  Against  It- 
self,"  was  a  compound  of  nearly  all  the  arguments  pro  and 
con.  It  was  of  great  use  to  persons  who  were  studying 
the  subject  of  Baptism,  as  it  furnished  them  with  all  the 
principal  arguments  and  the  passages  of  scripture  quoted 
in  the  proofs.  The  Baptismal  Chart  was  Originally  a 
Baptist  picture,  entitled  "  Emblem  of  a  Baptist  Church 
and  Baptismal  Chart."  Mr.  Hall  reprinted  it,  changing 
the  word  "  Baptist  "  to  "  Christian.''  The  two  columns 
at  the  side  contained  all  the  passages  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment containing  an  allusion  to  Baptism.  The  top,  which 
rested  upon  these  columns,  was  an  arch  containing  the 
name  of  the  chart.  Just  underneath  the  arch  was  a  dove 
descending  in  a  circle  of  light  upon  a  church  edifice,  which 
was  the  central  and  prominent  feature  of  the  picture. 
The  house  stood  on  an  island  in  the  center  of  a  small  lake, 
so  that  it  could  only  be  approached  through  the  water. 
In  the  water  stood  an  administrator  with  a  candidate,  in 
the  act  of  immersing  him. 

In  the  exercise  of  his  usual  energy,  Mr.  Hall  had  cir- 
culated great  numbers  of  his  discourse  and  this  chart 
throughout  the  country,  and  as  premiums  to  subscribers 
many  more  were  sent  abroad. 

Mr.  HalPs  connection  with  the  periodical,  after  the 
union  of  the  Gospel  Proclamation  and  Western  Reformer, 
was  only  nominal,  and  very  brief.  About  six  months  after 
the  union  he  wrote  an  article,  from  which  we  make  the 
following  extract ; 


122  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

"Having  received  a  number  of  letters  recently  from 
readers  of  the  Proclamation  and  Reformer,  whose  names 
we  were  instrumental  in  adding  to  the  list,  making  in- 
quiry into  the  reason  for  our  silence  in  the  department 
editorial,  it  becomes  necessary  briefly  lo  explain.  Shortly 
after  the  work  was  moved  to  Indiana  and  placed  under 
the  direction  of  Brother  Franklin,  some  of  our  friends, 
who  ought  to  be  good  counselors  in  such  a  case,  thought, 
from  the  peculiar  combination  of  circumstances  thrown 
around  me  on  account  of  my  recent  editorial  difficulty, 
that  my  essnys  would  rather  have  a  tendency  to  injure 
than  advance  the  interests  of  the  paper.  Having,  also, 
reason  to  fear  such,  with  a  certain  portion  of  our  readers, 
would  be  even  true,  and  wishing  the  greatest  possible 
good  to  result  from  the  periodical,  which  two  years  inces- 
sant labor  had  brought  to  so  extensive  a  circulation  in 
every  State  and  Territory  in  the  Union,  we  resolved  to 
throw  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  its  usefulness,  and  there- 
fore to  withhold  any  editorial  participation,  at  least  until 
circumstances  should  indicate  that  our  labors  would  be 
appreciated.  The  good  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  not 
any  scheme  of  personal  honor  or  aggrandizement,  we 
have  endeavored  to  make  the  leading  motive  of  our  Chris- 
tian efforts.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  we  could  have 
gratified  such  a  worldly  ambition,  as  we  had  adequate 
means  in  our  possession,  had  we  been  disposed  to  keep 
them.  We  believed  then,  but  more  especially  now,  since 
the  Proclamation  and  Reformer  has  come  under  the  ad- 
ditional co-editorship  of  Brother  Burnet,  that  without  our 
weak  assistance  its  contents  would  be  fully  equal  to  the 
necessities  of  the  case,  and  do  ample  justice  and  honor  to 
the  cause  of  truth,  without  being  liable  to  the  charge  of 
a  lack  of  either  education  or  experience.     I  am  heartily 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  123 

glad  that  such  is  the  fact,  and  confidently  trust,  from  the 
known  ability  and  long  experience  of  Brother  Burnet, 
both  as  an  editor  and  evangelist,  that  even  the  brethren 
who  complain  of  our  absence,  will  be  more  than  gratified 
at  the  change.' ' 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  reader  was  permitted  to 
see  some  paragraphs  illustrating  Mr.  Franklin's  style  of 
writing  at  the  time  when  he  became  an  editor.  We  shall 
now  introduce  some  further  selections,  by  way  of  show- 
ing his  improvement,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  some 
additional  facts  of  his  history.  In  following  the  bent  of 
mind  observed  in  the  first  }rears  of  his  preaching,  he 
begged  off  from  his  regular  engagements,  and  made  a  tour 
into  Ohio,  in  the  month  of  May,  1848,  to  preach  and  to 
debate  with  an  "  Anti-Means  Baptist,"  by  the  name  of 
Williams.  On  his  return  he  published  some  notes  of  his 
travel,  under  the  caption  of  a  M  Tour  to  Ohio."  This  was 
after  he  had  been  editor  over  three  yers.  We  subjoin  the 
following  extracts : 

"  On  Wednesday,  the  9th,  we  committed  our  little  all 
to  Him  who  has  so  kindly  and  mercifully  protected  us  in 
the  days  that  are  past,  and  took  stuge  at  Cambridge  City, 
Indiana,  for  Dayton,  Ohio.  The  stage,  however,  proved 
to  be  only  a  mud  wagon,  filled  to  the  uttermost  with 
passengers,  trunks,  mails,  etc.  ;  and  the  day  being  cold 
and  rainy,  and  being  late,  we  plunged  through  mud  and 
rain  at  a  horrid  rate  during  the  first  sixteen  miles  ;  but  in 
high  hopes  of  better  roads  and  a  coach  in  the  place  of  a 
mud  wagon  when  we  would  get  to  Richmond.  But 
through  some  defect  in  the  stage  arrangement  we  had  to 
continue  in  the  old  wagon,  but  with  the  promise  that  we 
would  meet  the  coach  in  about  six  miles,  when  they  would 
exchange  and  turn  the  coach  back.     We  then  watched  for 


124  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

the  coach  for  ten  long  miles,  and  to  our  mortification, 
when  we  met  it,  we  found  it  so  crowded  that  the  exchange 
could  not  be  made.  The  only  alternative  remaining  was 
to  push  our  wagon  ahead  to  Eaton.  At  the  latter  named 
place  we  were  furnished  with  a  good  coach  and  team, 
which  seemed  quite  comfortable  after  plunging  through 
the  mud  thirty-two  miles.  We  were  then  carried  through 
the  remaining  twenty-four  miles  in  less  than  three  hours, 
and  reached  Dayton  a  little  before  seven  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  where  we  soon  found  a  resting  place  and  were 
much  refreshed  by  the  hospitalities  of  our  well  known 
brother  Van  Tuyl." 

The  younger  citizens  of  Cambridge,  who  take  a  seat  in 
a  comfortable  railway  coach  and  land  in  Dayton  within 
two  hours,  can  hardly  realize  that  only  thirty  years  ago  it 
was  such  a  ride  as  above  described.  Mr.  Franklin  re- 
mained over  night  at  Dayton,  preaching  one  discourse. 
Next  day  he  was  conveyed  to  a  point  seven  miles  east  of 
Dayton,  where  resided  a  Disciple  and  his  wife  by  the  name 
of  Darst,  both  so  seriously  afflicted  that  they  could  not 
meet  with  the  congregation.     Of  his  stay  he  writes: 

««  We  spoke  three  times  at  brother  Darst' s  to  small  but 
interested  audiences.  The  reason  of  the  hearing  being  so 
limited  is  found  in  the  fact  that  two  large  meetings  were 
in  progress,  one  on  each  side  of  us.  On  Friday  at  three 
o'clock,  we  took  time  to  attend  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  at  this  time  engaged  in  a  protracted  meeting,  in 
one  mile  of  brother  Darst's.  On  entering  their  very 
respectable  house  of  worship,  we  found  a  moderate  assem- 
bly in  attendance,  and  a  Rev.  Mr.  Winters  engaged  in 
proving  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  very  and  eternal  God. 
His  dry  and  lifeless  speculations  seemed  to  have  but  little 
effect  on  the  audience,  as  they  appeared  unconcerned  and 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  125 

sat  gazing  about  or  asleep.  And  how  he  gathered  up  lite 
and  spirit  enough  to  exhort  I  am  unable  to  say  ;  for  I 
should  feel  as  much  like  exhorting  at  the  close  of  a  lec- 
ture on  astronomy  or  anatomy,  as  I  should  at  the  close  ot 
such  a  sermon.  But  he  did  nevertheless  make  quite  an 
affectionate  exhortation,  at  the  close  of  which  his  brother 
came  down  out  of  the  pulpit,  and  gave  an  invitation  for 
any  person  to  come  forward  and  unite  with  that  branch  of 
the  church.  One  lady  came  forward  and  was  received 
into  fellowship  without  being  asked  whether  she  believed 
in  the  existence  of  God  or  our  Savior,  and  without  being 
required  to  perform  any  act  of  obedience  whatever,  sim- 
ply by  giving  her  hand  to  the  preacher.  He  then  kneeled 
and  prayed  that  the  audience  might  be  baptised  with  fire 
and  the  Holy  Ghost.,, 

Mr.  Franklin's  statement  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
this  lady  was  received  into  the  church  was  afterward 
called  in  question  by  the  officiating  minister,  who  stated 
that  she  had,  at  another  time,  "  to  come  before  the  Ses- 
sion and  be  examined,  and  then  be  baptised  before  she 
became  a  full  member."  The  correction  was  willingly 
admitted  into  the  Western  Reformer. 

He  next  proceeded  to  the  town  of  Lebanon,  Ohio, 
where  he  was  to  meet  Mr.  Samuel  Williams,  an  Anti- 
Means  Baptist,  in  public  discussion : 

"  We  found,  when  we  arrived  at  this  place,  that  a  gen- 
eral interest  prevailed  relative  to  the  coming  debate ;  and 
that  the  parties  had  procured  the  East  Baptist  meeting 
house,  the  largest  house  in  the  place,  for  the  discussion. 
The  Anti-Means  Baptists,  our  brethren,  and  the  people 
in  general,  were  rushing  in  from  every  quarter. 

"At  about  3  o'clock  we  repaired  to  the  appointed 
place  and  were  introduced  to  Mr.  Williams,  the  gentle- 


126  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

man  with  whom  we  were  to  debate.  He  is  a  man  of 
middle  stature,  dark  eyes  and  dark  hair,  and  naturally  a 
pert  looking  man.  He  is  also  a  tolerably  bold  and  inde- 
pendent man  in  his  appearance,  and  about  as  well  calcu- 
lated to  defend  his  doctrine  as  any  man  who  believes  it  in 
our  knowledge.  We  found  no  difficulty  in  agreeing  upon 
the  preliminaries  of  debate,  a  moderator,  etc.  We  mutu- 
ally choose  brother  Philips,  of  the  old  Christian  order*  to 
act  as  moderator;  to  which  he  consented,  and  which  place 
he  filled  with  much  respect  and  dignity." 

In  speaking  of  Mr.  Williams  as  a  "pert"  man,  Mr. 
Franklin  doubtless  had  in  his  mind  the  old  English  word 
"  peart,"  or  "  peert,"  which  was  then  very  generally  used 
in  Eastern  Indiana.  He  elsewhere  speaks  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liams as  a  *'  free,  open,  and  candid  man."  By  <k  pert  " 
here  he  evidently  means  "  lively,"  "  brisk."  The  "  great 
commoner, "  as  Mr.  Franklin  has  been  very  appropriately 
termed,  knew  the  language  of  the  people  far  better  than 
the  language  of  the  schools  and  the  books.  The  subject 
under  discussion  was  "  the  conditionally  of  eternal  salva- 
tion." The  debate  occupied  only  two  days.  After  a 
brief  summary  of  the  argument,  Mr.  Franklin  says : 

"  lean  give  no  farther  notice  of  the  debate  here,  than 
simply  to  say,  that  notwithstanding  all  the  quibbles  of 
Mr.  Williams,  and  his  inexorable  fatality,  he  has  more  re- 
gard for  truth,  and  more  honesty  than  any  man  we  have 
ever  debated  with.  I  fear,  however,  that  he  will  run  into 
Universalism,  for  he  is  already  pretty  well  agreed  with 


*The  "Christian  Connection  "  is  meant  by  this  expression.  The  Disciples, 
who  were  so  persistent  in  rejecting  the  name  "  Campbellite  "  Church,  could 
not  themselves  be  so  discourteous  as  to  use  the  nickname,  "  Newlight 
Church."  When,  therefore,  a  distinction  became  necessary,  they  often  spoke 
of  the  •* Christian  Connection"  as  "  the  old  Christian  Order."  (See  chap.  III.) 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  127 

them  where  they  are  wrong,  and  opposed  to  them  where 
they  are  right. 

44  On  Friday  evening  we  traveled  four  miles  into  the 
country,  to  the  Green  Tree,  after  the  debate,  and  spoke 
at  candlelighting,  after  which  an  intelligent  young  gentle- 
man, who  came  from  Xenia  to  hear  the  debate,  confessed 
his  faith  in  the  Messiah.  We  spoke  again  on  Saturday  at 
three  o'clock,  in  the  same  place,  and  on  Lord's  day  morn- 
ing we  spoke  at  the  Reel  Lion,  in  the  large  and  well-known 
chapel  belonging  to  the  Old  Christians.  At  three  o'clock 
we  again  spoke  at  the  Green  Tree,  where  four  more  per- 
sons confessed  faith  in  Christ,  and  with  the  one  above 
mentioned,  were  immersed.  The  few  zealous  brethren 
living  here,  showed  us  every  kindness,  especially  in  their 
very  commendable  liberality,  for  which  may  the  Lord  re- 
ward them. 

"  On  Monday  we  were  brought  on  our  way  to  Leban- 
on, and  there  took  the  coach  back  to  Dcerfiekl,  where  we 
took  the  cars  to  Cincinnati.  On  Tuesday  morning  we 
took  stage  for  home,  which  desirable  place  we  gained  on 
Wednesday. 

"  Thus  in  two  weeks  we  delivered  some  eighteen  dis- 
courses, made  ten  speeches  in  the  debate,  and  traveled 
more  than  two  hundred  miles,  and  by  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord,  we  commence  a  protracted  meeting  at  Bentonville 
to-day." 

We  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to  refer  to  somethings 
incidental  to  the  residence  of  Benjamin  Franklin  at  Mil- 
ton, Indiana,  but  for  the  present  we  pass  on. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

**  The  lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us, 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 

Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time — 
Footprints  that  perhaps  another, 
Sailing  o'er  life's  solemn  main, 
A  forlorn  and  ship-wrecked  brother, 
Seeing,  shall  take  heart  again." 

— Longfellow. 

WE  distinguish  between  a  great  man  and  a  great 
name.  There  are  many  great  men  who  have  never 
had  a  great  name.  This  is  especially  true  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal history.  Many  men  of  strong  intellect  and  indomita- 
ble energy,  under  the  enlightening  influences  of  the  Gospel, 
have  done  a  great  work  for  humanity,  without  attracting 
attention  outside  of  the  community  in  which  their  labors 
were  performed.  The  histories  of  the  Albigenses,  the 
Waldenses,  and  the  Hugenots,  are  not  usually  connected 
with  the  names  of  any  prominent  leaders,  yet  there  were 
leading  men  among  them  at  all  times. 

In  our  own  Reformation  there  are  many  others  who,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  were  led  into  as  clear  a  light  as 
that  which  shone  in  the  lovely  character  and  scriptural  in- 
struction of  Alexander  Campbell ;  and  that,  too,  with  less 
human  aid  than  he  received.  Mr.  Campbell  was  started 
in  the  road  which  led  him  to  Jerusalem,  by  his  father, 
Thomas  Campbell.  His  well-earned  and  deserved  dis- 
tinction was  not  gained  by  clearing  away  the  rubbish  and 
discovering  the  precious  jewels  of  "the  faith  once  deliv- 
ered to  the  saints,"  so  much  as  by  the   masterly  manner 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  129 

in  which  he  displayed  their  sparkling  beauty,  to  the  utter 
disparagement  of  the  tawdriness  of  modern  sectarianism. 
We  have  already  given  sketches  of  some  of  Mr.  Frank- 
lin's co temporaries,  and  will  now  devote  a  space  to  brief 
accounts  of  several  others.  The  character  of  the  men 
who  did  the  work  throws  light  on  the  work  itself,  and  the 
lives  of  those  noble  veterans  are  replete  with  instruction 
and  entertainment.  With  bold  and  free  minds  they 
grasped  the  truth  as  it  is  revealed  in  the  Bible,  when  all 
around  them  there  was  nothing  but  a  mist  and  a  dark- 
ness. With  strong  and  unsparing  hands  they  tore  away 
the  ecclesiastical  frippery  with  which  generations  of  specu- 
lative theologians  had  draped  and  disfigured  the  beautiful 
model  of  character  revealed  in  the  word  and  example  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  We  delight  to  do  them  reverence, 
and  would  joyfully  emblazon  their  heroic  deeds  in  words 
of  living  light,  that  coming  generations  might  read  of 
them,  admire  them,  and 

"  Ambitious  view  those  holy  men 
Who  lived  and  walked  with  God.'* 

The  size  and  plan  of  this  book  limit  the  space  which 
can  be  devoted  to  each  of  these  pioneers,  and  the  mater- 
ials within  our  reach  limit  the  number  of  names  which 
can  be  introduced.  We  shall  farther  confine  ourselves  to 
those  who  came,  almost  unaided  save  by  reading  the 
Bible,  to  an  understanding  of  the  principles  of  the  Refor- 
mation, or  who  were  co-laborers  of  Mr.  Franklin  in  the 
earlier  part  of  his  ministry.  Eastern  Indiana  became  a 
centre  from  which  the  light  of  reformation  and  restora- 
tion radiated.  Many  of  the  preachers  of  this  section 
have  been  among  the  foremost  of  those  who  have  been 
recognized  as  leading  spirits  in  the  exciting  history  of  the 
7 


130  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

last  thirty  years.  We  desire,  therefore,  to  comprehend 
in  these  outlines,  the  history  of  the  introduction  and  pro- 
gress of  the  Gospel  in  Eastern  Indiana. 

In  1824,  Gary  Smith,  a  young  Baptist  preacher  in 
Wayne  county,  "  felt  himself  called  "  to  go  on  a  preach- 
ing tour  through  the  Southern  States.  In  Kentucky  he 
chanced  to  see  some  numbers  of  the  Christian  Baptist, 
and  was  so  interested  that  he  ordered  two  copies  of  the 
work,  as  far  as  then  published,  to  be  sent,  one  to  his  own 
address,  and  the  other  to  his  father.  This,  so  far  as 
known,  was  the  first  introduction  of  the  light  of  the 
Reformation  into  Eastern  Indiana.  Mr.  Smith  died  in 
1841,  when  only  forty  years  old,  but  not  until  he  had 
lived  to  see  the  ancient  order  of  worship  restored  in  a 
number  of  churches.  His  travels  extended  from  Wayne 
county  as  far  southward  as  Harrison,  Ohio.  A  very  in- 
teresting narrative  of  a  meeting  near  Harrison,  held  by 
Walter  Scott,  L.  H.  Jameson  and  Gary  Smith,  in  1834, 
and  resulting  in  the  founding  of  the  Church  of  Christ  at 
that  place,  is  given  in  "  The  Pioneer  Preachers  of  Indi- 
ana,"* as  follows : 

On  their  arrival  at  the  place  "  they  learned  that  all  the 
churches  of  the  town  were  closed  against  them,  and  that 
they  would  be  under  the  necessity  of  holding  the  proposed 
meeting  in  a  barn  some  two  miles  up  White  Water. 

"  After  a  hasty  meal,  the  trio  set  out  for  the  said  barn, 
where  they  found  only  about  thirty  persons  assembled. 


*In  1862,  Madison  Evans,  a  promising  young  man  of  that  State,  published 
a  book  entitled,  "  Biographical  Sketches,  of  the  Pioneer  Preachers  of  Indi- 
ana," and  comprising  sketches  of  twenty-four  preachers.  It  was  a  very 
readable  book ;  but  not  long  after  its  appearance  a  dreadful  tragedy  ended 
his  life.  The  quotations  in  this  and  the  following  chapters,  not  otherwise 
credited,  are  from  this  book. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN.  131 

Walter  Scott  was  greatly  discouraged,  and  without  cere- 
mony rolled  himself  up  in  his  great  cloak,  stowed  himself 
away  in  a  hay  mow,  and  went  to  sleep.  The  burden  of 
the  day,  therefore,  devolved  on  the  two  wakeful  preach- 
ers. Smith  delivered  an  able  discourse,  Jameson  followed 
with  a  fervid  exhortation,  and  several  persons  came  for- 
ward to  make  the  good  confession.  At  this  juncture 
Elder  Scott  came  hurriedly  out  of  his  snug  retreat,  and, 
without  stopping  to  remove  the  bits  of  hay  from  his  raven 
locks,  joined  in  the  exercises  with  a  hearty  good  will. 

M  As  the  sun  was  going  down,  they  returned  to  the  vil- 
lage, and  repaired  to  the  river  to  attend  to  the  ordinance 
of  baptism.  A  great  concourse  of  people  were  present, 
and  among  them  a  local  preacher  by  the  name  of  Lincoln, 
who,  fearing  an  invasion  of  the  Methodist  Zion,  deter- 
mined to  offer  battle  at  the  water.  Elder  Scott  immedi- 
ately took  his  position  on  a  large  boulder,  and  commenced 
replying  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  questions.  His  faithful  co- 
laborers  took  their  positions  around  him,  Testament  in 
hand,  and  as  soon  as  Mr.  Lincoln  would  put  a  question 
they  would  turn  to  the  passage  containing  the  proper 
answer,  and  hand  it  to  Elder  Scott,  who  would  lead  it 
aloud,  making  such  comments  as  he  deemed  pertinent. 
This  done,  all  were  ready  for  another  question  and  another 
reply.  Thus,  until  the  enemy  was  silenced,  raged  the 
battle  of  White  Water,  fought  with  weapons  *  not  carnal 
but  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong- 
holds.' By  the  singular  contest  an  immense  religious  .in- 
terest was  awakened  in  the  whole  community.  From 
that  time  till  the  close  of  the  meeting  the  barn  was  filled 
to  overflowing ;  and  before  they  left  the  town  a  goodly 
number  had  been  added  to  the  saved." 

Cary  Smith  was  the  elder  brother  of  Butler  K.  Smith, 


132  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

who  survived  to  become  known  throughout  the  brother- 
hood. Butler  K.,  was  "  in  the  slough  of  despond,"  try- 
ing to  "  experience  religion,' '  when  the  opportune  arri- 
val of  the  pamphlets  sent  home  by  Cary  showed  him  the 
way  out  upon  firmer  ground.  He  became  a  firm  disciple, 
a  good  preacher,  and  a  good  writer.  At  an  early  day  he 
removed  to  a  farm  near  Indianapolis,  and  thereafter  oper- 
ated from  the  Capital  southward  to  the  Ohio  river.  His 
name  is  appended  to  many  communications  in  Mr.  Frank- 
lin's periodicals  until  within  the  last  half-dozen  years. 

In  1826,  John  P.  Thompson,  of  Rush  county,  Indiana, 
then  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  his  age,  and  the  seventh  of 
his  ministry  in  the  Regular  Baptist  Church,  subscribed  for 
the  Gltrislian  Baptist.  The  doctrine  in  it  struck  his 
mind  very  favorably,  and  on  learning  of  great  meetings 
held  near  his  old  home  in  Kentucky,  by  Walter  Scott  and 
John  Smith,  he  made  a  journey  thither  to  hear  the  doc- 
trine preached.  The  result  was  that  he  was  ruined  for  a 
Baptist  preacher.  On  his  return  to  the  churches  where 
he  had  been  preaching  he  had  a  heavy  heart.  He  had 
organized  the  Baptist  Church  in  Rushville  and  was  preach- 
ing  regularly  there.  He  was  also  preaching  for  the  Flat- 
rock  Baptist  Church,  where  he  held  his  membership. 

"  The  next  time  he  met  with  the  congregation  at  Flat- 
rock,  he  felt  but  little  inclination  to  preach  ;  for  the  old 
land-marks  had  been  removed,  while  others  had  not  been 
established  in  their  stead.  However,  he  took  for  his 
text  John  v,  1,  because  he  could  discourse  upon  that  with- 
out revealing  his  views  or  his  doubts  relative  to  his  old 
ones.  The  brethren  were  well  pleased,  as  usual,  with 
his  teaching. 

"  The  next  meeting  was  at  a  brother's,  Elias  Stone's, 
house,  an  humble  cabin  with  a  puncheon  floor  and  a  porch 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  133 

on  one  side.  A  large  congregation  for  that  day  were 
seated  in  the  house  and  on  the  porch,  while  Mr.  Thomp- 
son, who,  by  this  time  had  a  tolerable  knowledge  of  the 
Christian  system,  took  his  position  in  the  door  to  declare 
once  more  to  his  humble  neighbors  «  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ.'  He  did  not  intend  at  that  time  to  bring 
any  '  strange  things '  to  their  ears  ;  but  his  mind  was  full 
of  great  ideas  recently  acquired,  and  his  heart  was  swell- 
ing with  unfeigned  devotion  to  God  and  sincere  desires 
for  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-men.  When,  therefore,  he 
was  about  half  way  through  his  sermon,  his  spirit  over- 
leaped all  barriers  that  creeds  and  traditions  had  thrown 
around  it;  and,  as  if  suddenly  inspired,  he  proclaimed  to 
his  astonished  hearers,  the  fullness  the  freeness,  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

"  That  morning's  service  was  the  beginning  of  a  great 

©  ©  ©  & 

reformation  in  Eastern  Indiana.  Hitherto  the  people  had 
taken  but  little  interest  in  the  study  of  the  Bible,  having 
been  taught  that  it  was  designedly  incomprehensible  to  the 
unregenerate  mind.  But  now  all  was  excitement,  search- 
ing the  Scriptures,  animated  private  discussions,  and 
flocking  to  the  house  of  worship  to  hear  the  public  teach- 
ers, and  compare  their  views  with  the  word  of  God.  The 
preacher's  dixit  was  no  longer  profitable  for  doctrine,  nor 
was  the  Confession  of  Faith  an  end  of  all  controversy. 
The  people  were  beginning  to  demand  for  every  text  a 
"  thus  saith  the  Lord." 

"  There  were  at  that  time  but  three  houses  of  worship 
in  Rush  county,  and  these  were  merely  closed  in  —  not 
finished.  The  uncovered  sleepers  served  for  pews;  a 
rude  box,  filled  with  clay,  on  which  glowed  a  heap  of 
charcoal,  constituted  the  warming  apparatus;  and  a  clap- 
board, nailed  to  the  top  of  a  couple  of  pins  or  posts  in- 


134  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

serted  in  the  sleepers,  completed  the  substitute  for  a  pul- 
pit. To  these  houses,  when  the  private  cabin  would  no 
longer  hold  the  increasing  audiences,  the  worshippers  re- 
sorted ;  and  they  were  frequently  filled  with  anxious  in- 
quirers after  truth,  many  of  whom  came  a  distance  of  ten 
or  twelve  miles,  and  returned  home  the  same  day  or  night. 
Mr.  Thompson  was  the  chief  speaker.  He  travelled  over 
the  whole  county,  inculcating  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles 
so  far  as  he  had  learned  it.  The  most  of  the  converts  of 
that  day  remained  steadfast.  The  church  called  Boundary 
Line,  in  Wabash  county,  has  now  within  its  pale  many  of 
the  fruits  of  the  early  Reformation. 

"Mr.  Thompson  was  still  a  nominal  Baptist.  The 
more  orthodox  of  his  brethren  had  perceived  with  regret 
the  change  that  had  taken  place  in  his  preaching ;  but 
they  esteemed  him  very  highly  as  a  brother,  and  wrere  dis- 
posed on  that  account  to  say  to  one  another,  •  Let  brother 
Thompson  alone :  it  is  owing  to  the  excitement  that  he 
fails'  to  inculcate  the  received  doctrines ;  and  when  the 
revival  is  over  he  will  teach  the  converts  experience  and 
doctrine  ' — a  phrase  which  simply  means  that  he  would  re- 
turn to  the  traditions  of  the  fathers  ! 

"Thus  matters  went  on  until  about  sixty  members— all 
Reformers — withdrew  from  the  Flatrock  Church  with  its 
consent,  and  at  a  more  convenient  point  in  Fayette  County, 
were  organized  as  a  separate  church  on  the  foundation  of 
Apostles  and  Prophets." 

Soon  after  this  the  more  orthodox  of  the  remaining 
members  of  the  Flatrock  Church  raised  a  complaint  that 
Mr.  Thompson  was  preaching  unsound  doctrine,  and  he 
was  arraigned  before  the  congregation  to  answer  to  the 
charge  of  heresy.  The  trial  was  public,  and  a  large  and 
intensely-excited  audience  witnessed  the  proceedings. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  135 

"  It  was  finally  agreed  that  the  church  should  decide  by 
a  vote  whether  or  not  his  teaching  was  heretical ;  and  the 
vote  being  taken  it  was  decided  by  a  majority  of  seven 
that  he  taught  according  to  the  oracles  of  God.  It  being 
a  well-established  law  of  the  church  that  the  majority 
should  rule  in  every  case,  he  immediately  turned  the 
tables  upon  his  prosecutors  ;  and,  had  he  been  so  disposed, 
he  might  have  excluded  every  one  of  them  for  heterodoxy  ! 
But  he  was  unwilling  to  attempt,  himself,  what  he  had  so 
recently  condemned  in  them  ;  so  the  proceedings  were 
discontinued  and  the  Inquisition  adjourned. 

"At  the  next  official  meeting  it  was  agreed  by  the  two 
parties  that  they  should  occupy  the  house  alternately  for 
one  year.  A  short  time  afterward  Mr.  Thompson  and 
those  whose  views  coincided  with  his  own  formed  a  sep- 
arate organization  called  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  gave 
to  each  other  the  hand  of  Christian  fellowship. 

"  Thus  did  he  enter  fully  into  the  Reformation  ;  and 
thus  did  he  brine:  with  him  out  of  the  Flatrock  Church 
the  nuclei  of  what  are  now  two  large  and  nourishing 
churches  of  the  living  God. 

"  On  the  next  Lord's  Day  after  their  organization,  an 
eccentric  Baptist  preacher  by  the  name  of  Thomas  (com- 
monly called  the  White  Pilgrim,  on  account  of  his  white 
raiment,)  was  present,  and,  by  request,  preached.  A 
great  many  '  Newlights,'  of  whom  there  was  a  large  con- 
gregation about  two  miles  to  the  north,  were  present  on 
that  occasion,  and  they  became  greatly  offended  because 
not  especially  invited  to  the  Lord's  table.  Out  of  this 
circumstance  there  arose  a  great  controversy  on  the  sub- 
ject of  communion,  which  warfare  was  zealously  partici- 
pated in  by  the  Elders  Thompson  and  John  Longley,  then 
a  member  of  the  'Newlight'  congregation  above  men- 


136  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

tioned.  At  last  the  difficulty  was  amicably  adjusted.  Mr. 
Longley,*  with  the  majority  of  his  brethren,  soon  came 
over  to  the  Reformation ;  and  he  became,  also,  a  zealous 
advocate  of  the  ancient  Gospel. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  congregation  was  much  strength- 
ened by  accessions  from  the  world,  and  by  immigrant 
disciples  from  Kentucky,  among  whom  was  Elder  Benja- 
min F.  Reeve.  He,  having  already  commenced  preaching, 
was  soon  associated  with  Mr.  Thompson  iu  the  eldership 
of  the  congregation,  which  they  directed  and  edified  with 
the  most  perfect  unanimity  for  nineteen  years.' * 

The  conversion  of  Mr.  Reeve  to  the  principles  of  the 
Reformation  has  one  or  two  points  of  interest  in  it  to 
which  we  now  invite  attention. 

He  was  a  resident  of  Kentucky  from  his  sixth  to  his 
thirty-fifth  year.  The  denominations  represented  in  his 
neighborhood  were  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  the  Chris- 
tian Connection  or   "  Newlights."     Mr.  Evans  says  that : 

''About  the  year  1828  the  three  denominations  men- 
tioned above  imported  into  the  neighborhood  three 
preachers,  one  of  each  order,  and  each  an  able  defender 
of  the  dogmas  of  his  church.  Many  things  were  then 
done  through  strife  and  vain  glory.  Meetings  were  so 
frequent  that  opportunities  were  afforded  of  hearing  one 
of  the  three  champions  every  Lord's  day.  From  the  very 
first  Mr.  Reeve  attended  these  meetings,  and  he  soon  be- 
came a  deeply  interested  listener,  having  now  learned 
how  to  compare  the  views  of  men  with  the  word  of 
God.  They  mainly  discussed  the  subject  of  Baptism,  Cal- 
vinism, and  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  He  hearkened  dili- 
gently  to  them   all,  until   he   understood   clearly  their 


A  sketch  of  this  pioneer  was  given  in  Chapter  V» 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  137 

positions  and  the  differences  between  them.  On  Baptism, 
the  Baptist  and  Newlight  opposed  the  Methodist ;  on  Cal- 
vinism, the  Methodist  and  Newlight  opposed  the  Baptist, 
and  on  the  Divinity  of  Christ  the  Baptist  and  Methodist 
opposed  the  Newlight.  It  was,  therefore,  a  remarkable, 
triangular,  and  unequal  contest,  there  being  two  against 
one  on  each  of  the  subjects." 

As  the  appeals  of  all  were  made  to  the  Bible,  Mr. 
Reeve  determined  to  take  up  the  three  subjects,  one  at  a 
time,  and  read  the  New  Testament  through  with  refer- 
ence to  each  one.  His  first  reading  was  with  reference 
to  Baptism.  He  was  an  intelligent  and  well-informed 
school-teacher,  and  it  soon  became  known  that  he  was 
ma-kin?  this  investigation.  About  the  time  he  had  con- 
eluded  his  reading  with  reference  to  Baptism,  he  chanced 
to  be  in  a  group  of  several  persons,  when  a  class-leader, 
who  was  one  of  the  group,  inquired  as  to  the  results.  Mr. 
Reeve,  well  knowing  the  opinions  of  his  interrogator, 
said  that  if  he  had  not  previously  heard  of  infant  sprink- 
ling from  preachers,  no  thought  of  it  would  ever  have 
entered  his  mind  while  reading  the  New  Testament.  The 
class-leader  responded  with  a  sneer  at  such  careless  read- 
ing, when  Mr.  Reeve  drew  a  Testament  from  his  pocket 
and  asked  him  to  "put  his  finger"  on  a  passage  which 
would  have  originated  the  thought.  Of  course  it  was 
not  done. 

His  conclusion,  on  reading  with  Calvinism  before  his 
mind,  was  the  same  as  that  reached  by  Peter  on  standing 
before  the  assembly  at  the  house  of  Cornelius:  "Of  a 
truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but 
in  every  nation,  he  that  feareth  Him  and  worketh  right- 
eousness, is  accepted  with  Him.', 

M  He  then  took  up  the  remaining  subject— the  Divinity 


138  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES   OF 

of  Christ — in  the  same  manner,  hut  with  less  success.  On 
the  first  reading,  he  felt  that  he  knew  but  little  about  it ; 
on  the  second,  less  ;  and,  on  the  third,  still  less.  Though 
the  term  '  Divinity '  was  freely  used  in  the  discussions  of 
that  day,  yet  the  question  in  hand  was  more  properly  the 
eternity  of  Christ — was  he  co-eternal  with  the  Father,  or 
did  he  derive  his  existence  from  the  Father?  This  was 
the  subject  which,  to  Mr.  Reeve,  grew  more  and  more  ob- 
scure. But  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,  he  found 
abundant  evidence  in  the  Scriptures.  With  this  great 
central  truth  he  contented  himself;  and  beyond  that, 
after  the  third  reading,  he   sought  not  to  penetrate  the 

Soon  after  these  investigations  he  heard  the  Gospel  as 
preached  by  the  Reformers,  and  as  he  had  read  it  in  the  New 
Testament,  made  the  good  confession  and  was  baptised. 
On  coming  to  Rush  County  he  at  once  joined  heartily  in 
the  efforts  being  made  in  the  surrounding  country  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel  and  the  restoration  of  the  ancient 
order  of  worship,  and  soon  came  to  be  one  of  the  early 
and  successful  Evangelists  of  Eastern  Indiana. 

Not  far  from  the  Flatrock  Church  was  another  on  Ben 
Davis  Creek,  organized  under  a  Baptist  dispensation,  but 
not  of  the  M  Regular"  pattern.  It  was  organized  as  an 
arm  of  the  Liberty  Free  Will  Bnptist  Church.  It  existed 
in  a  transitional  form  until  1832,  when  it  was  finally  sep- 
arated from  the  Liberty  Church,  and  stood  squarely  upon 
the  Bible.  .  Among  its  members  is  another  pioneer 
preacher  who  often  aided  Mr.  Franklin  in  his  evangelical 
tours  through  that  country. 

Jacob  Daubenspeck  was  born  in  Kentucky,  December 
9,  1797.  He  was,  as  his  name  indicates,  a  German,  and 
was  characterized  by  some  of  the  best  traits  of  the  Ger- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  139 

mans,  and  especially  by  personal  integrity  and  firmness  of 
purpose.  In  1827  he  moved  into  Rush  County,  seven 
miles  to  the  northeast  of  Rushville,  on  the  banks  of  Ben 
Davis  Creek,  where  he  still  resides.  The  wigwam  of  the 
old  Indian,  from  whom  the  stream  took  its  name,  was. 
still  standing  on  the  farm  which  Mr.  Daubenspeck  now 
owns.  - 

"  I  was  raised  a  Presbyterian,' '  said  he,  in  answer  to 
one  of  our  questions,  "  and,  as  I  suppose,  was  sprinkled 
when  an  infant,  and  introduced  regularly  into  that  church. 
At  least,  I  had  a  'god-father'  and  a  <  god-mother,' 
who  told  me  so."  But,  notwithstanding  so  regular 
and  orthodox  an  introduction  into  spiritual  relationships, 
he  grew  up  and  remained  an  irreligious  man  until  thirty- 
two  years  of  nge.  He  was  then  awakened  by  the  preach- 
ing, in  the  meetings  of  the  Ben  Davis  Creek  Church, 
during  its  dependency.  His  experience  was  no  marvellous 
vision  of  the  day,  nor  absurd  dream  of  the  night,  but 
simply  that  he  "  had  fallen  out  with  sin,  and  purposed  in 
his  heart  to  lead  a  better  life."  The  "  experience"  was 
acceptable  and  he  was  baptised. 

Mr.  Daubenspeck  grew  up  without  any  educational  ad- 
vantages. His  knowledge  was  only  that  which  was  derived 
through  his  contact  with  the  world  in  the  most  intensely 
active  life.  He  has  been  a  marvel  of  activity.  He  farmed, 
he  traded,  he  preached  ;  and  whatever  he  did  was  pushed 
forward  with  a  celerity  that  made  common  men  dizzy. 
Nobody  could  ever  keep  up  with  him.  Now  in  his  eighty- 
second  year  he  plans  and  executes  with  a  vigor  retained 
by  very  few  men  at  sixty.  He  learned  to  read  the  New 
Testament,  and  soon  made  himself  acquainted  with  its 
contents.  He  has  always  been  familiar  with  the  periodi- 
cal  and  standard   literature  of  the  Disciples.     He    was 


140  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

always  ready  to  attend  protracted  meetings  and  to  join  in 
co-operative  efforts  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel. 

Pie  began  to  preach  as  soon  as  he  was  baptised,  and 
was  soon  licensed  by  the  Baptists.  It  was  not  long,  how- 
•  ever,  until  the  freedom  of  his  mind  led  him  into  the 
clearer  light  of  the  New  Testament,  and  he  brought  over 
the  whole  of  the  Ben  Davis  Creek  Church  into  the  Refor- 
mation. He  was  almost  a  cotemporary  with  Mr.  Thomp- 
son, above  referred  to.  But,  one  starting  among  the 
Calvinistic  Baptists  and  the  other  among  the  Free  Will 
Baptists,  they  were  not  much  together,  although  living 
so  near  each  other,  until  they  met  in  the  Reformation. 

Mr.  Daubenspeck  has  always  been  an  overseer  in  the 
Ben  Davis  Creek  Church,  and  has  joined  his  brethren  in 
building  the  three  meeting-houses  that  congregation  has 
occupied.  He  always  refused  to  take  any  remuneration 
for  his  services  as  a  preacher,  but  has  been  liberal  in  ex- 
tending the  helping  hand  to  those  who  gave  their  time  to 
the  work.  On  account  of  his  tremendous  physical  energy 
and  endurance  he  was  generally  called  on  to  do  the  bap- 
tising at  most  of  the  meetings  which  he  attended,  whether 
he  preached  or  not.  He  made  an  occasional  tour  farther 
away,  but  his  principal  labors  have  been  in  Rush  and 
Fayette  counties.  And  for  fifty  years  he  has  gone  in  and 
out  among  that  same  people,  marrying  their  sons  and 
daughters,  preaching  the  Gospel  to  sinners  and  edifying 
saints,  visiting  the  dying  with  the  consolations  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  preaching  at  their  funerals  !  Think  of  it,  ye 
young  preachers  who  have  to  hunt  a  new  place  every 
other  year,  and  learn  the  secret  of  the  power  that  can 
make  and  hold  a  field  of  usefulness  ! 

In  the  long  list  of  Indiana's  pioneer  evangelists,  there 
is  no  name  which  awakens  more  pleasing  memories,  in 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  141 

the  hearts  of  the  older  Disciples  than  that  of  John  O'Kane. 
His  Ciceronian  oratory  won  him  honorable  distinction 
wherever  he  went,  while  his  fraternal  manners  won  the 
affectionate  esteem  even  of  those  who  were  overshadowed 
by  his  towering  presence.  He  was  the  soul  of  almost 
every  protracted  meeting  he  attended,  and  the  centre  of 
every  social  circle  of  which  he  formed  a  part. 

John  O'Kane  was  born  in  Culpepper  county,  Virginia, 
in  the  year  1802.  He  had  for  a  time  the  privileges  of  a 
respectable  academy  and  so  diligently  improved  his  oppor- 
tunity that  he  obtained  more  than  an  average  English 
education  in  his  boyhood. 

He  made  his  profession  of  religion  under  the  ministry 
of  the  Christian  Convention  in  Virginia,  and  preached 
some  while  yet  among  them. 

When  about  twenty-five  years  of  age,  he  came  to  the 
West,  stopping  some  years  at  Lebanon,  Warren  county, 
Ohio.  While  at  Lebanon  he  was  a  reader  of  Barton  W. 
Stone's  periodical,  the  Christian  Messenger.  Some  ar- 
ticles on,  "  The  Plan  of  Salvation,"  attracted  his  atten- 
tion and  crossed  his  views.  No  reply  being  made  from 
any  other  source,  he  commenced  a  series  of  articles.  Mr. 
Stone  himself  took  sides  against  him,  and  he  was 
soon  convinced  that  "  The  Plan  of  Salvation  "  was  not  by 
•«  getting  religion  "  at  a  "  mourner's  bench  "  but  by  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ  and  obedience  to  the  Gospel. 

«'  In  the  spring  of  1832  he  came  to  Indiana,  locating  at 
Milton,  in  Wayne  county.  For  the  support  of  his  family 
he  engaged  in  teaching  a  common  school ;  but  for  the 
good  of  his  race  he  continued  to  preach  the  Gospel  on  the 
Lord's  day,  and  at  such  other  times  as  he  had  opportunity. 
Being  charged  with  "  CampbellisnV  the  few  meeting- 
houses were  closed  against  him;   but  John  O'Kane  was 


142  THE    LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

not  the  man,  either  to  conceal  his  own  light  under  a 
bushel,  or  to  suffer  it  to  be  extinguished  by  the  proscript- 
ive  efforts  of  those  who  '  loved  darkness  rather  than  light, 
because  the*r  deeds  were  evil.'  Such  pressure  only  made 
him  the  more  luminous,  and  in  a  little  while  he  became  a 
burning  and  a  shining  light — almost  the  only  one  at  that 
time  in  Eastern  Indiana.  Commencing  in  his  own  little 
school  house,  he  rapidly  extended  his  appointments  to 
others  ;  and  when  no  house  could  be  obtained,  he  preached 
to  multitudes  of  people  in  the  open  air. 

"  Within  the  same  year,  1832,  he  crossed  over  into 
Rush  county,  where  he  was  employed  for  one  year  to  co- 
operate with  John  P.  Thompson  in  doing  the  work  of  an 
evangelist.  In  this  service  he  traversed  the  counties  of 
Rush,  Fayette  and  Decatur ;  and  his  name  is  identified 
with  many  churches  and  reformatory  movements  which 
originated  at  that  time  in  that  portion  of  the  State. 

"  In  January,  1833,  he  journeyed  as  far  west  as  Indian- 
apolis. On  his  arrival  there  he  found  the  court-house 
occupied  by  the  Legislature  then  in  session  ;  the  'evangel- 
ical churches  '  closed  their  doors  against  him  ;  and  there 
was  no  place  for  holding  a  meeting,  save  in  an  old  log 
house  on  Market  street,  which  the  few  persecuted  saints 
had  rented  as  a  place  of  prayer.  In  this  he  began  and 
preached  on  three  evenings  in  succession,  the  house  not 
accommodating  one  half  the  people  who  were  anxious  to 
hear  the  word.  In  the  meantime  the  Legislature  tendered 
him  the  use  of  the  court-house  on  Saturday  evening  and 
on  Lord's  day.  There  he  had  an  opportunity  of  speak- 
ing before  judges  and  legislators,  as  well  as  many  *  corn- 
coin  people  ;  '  and  faithfully  did  he  witness  to  both  small 
and  great,  speaking  none  other  things  than  those  which 
the  Lord,  through  his  apostles,  appointed.     ■  The  preach- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  143 

ing,'  says  one  who  heard  it,  '  was  so  different  from  any 
that  had  ever  been  heard  in  Indianapolis  before — so  bold, 
so  pointed,  so  convincing,  so  strongly  enforced  by  the 
commanding  voice,  expressive  eye,  and  fine  oratory  of 
brother  O'Kane— that  it  seemed  to  carry  everything  be- 
fore it.  All  seemed  spell-bonnd,  and  many  were  seen  to 
tremble  under  his  mighty  appeals.'  This  was  a  kind  of 
Pentecostal  occasion  ;  for  not  only  was  a  deep  and  lasting 
impression  made  in  the  city — or  rather  town — but  the 
representatives  and  strangers  from  the  several  counties, 
like  the  '  devout  men  out  of  every  nation  '  at  Jerusalem, 
carried  with  them,  on  their  return  to  their  homes,  some 
knowledge  of  the  faith  as  it  was  once  delivered  to  the 
saints. 

"Mr.  O'Kane  made  two  or  three  other  visits  to  the 
capital  prior  to  the  following  June,  at  which  time  the 
Church  of  Christ  at  Indianapolis  was  organized,  with  some 
twenty  members. 

In  January,  1843,  he  and  Dr.  E.  T.  Brown  organized 
the  Church  of  Christ  at  Connersville,  Fayette  county,  to 
which  place  he  soon  after  removed,  and  commenced  the 
publication  of  a  monthly  religious  paper,  called  the 
Christian  Casket.  While  engaged  in  this  enterprise,  he 
continued  to  preach  the  Gospel  throughout  all  Central 
and  Eastern  Indiana,  occasionally  making  tours  through 
portions  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky." 

In  1837  he  removed  to  Crawfordsville  in  Montgomery 
county.  For  about  eleven  years  he  labored  in  the 
Wabash  Valley,  but  was  engaged  regularly  much  of  that 
time  by  the  church  in  Crawfordsville.  It  is  erroneous  to 
say  that  he  was  "  pastor  of  the  church  "  at  that  place  ;  for, 
whatever  be  the  merits  of  the  controversy  on  that  sub- 
ject, the  preachers  of  forty  years  ago  were  not  "  pastors," 


144  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

according  to  the  current  use  of  that  term.  They  were  all 
evangelists ;  and  only  evangelists,  even  when  engaged  to 
preach  regularly  for  one  or  more  churches.  If  they  were 
made  "  elders  "  in  the  churches  where  they  had  member- 
ship, they  did  not  "  take  the  oversight "  of  the  churches. 
Their  discourses,  delivered  when  the  Disciples  came  to- 
gether to  break  bread,  were  planned  and  delivered  with 
reference  to  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  only  incident- 
ally edified  the  Disciples.  Mr.  O'Kane  was  no  exception 
to  the  rule,  and  therefore,  while  he  resided  in  Crawfords- 
ville,  he  labored  incessantly  as  an  evangelist  in  all  the 
adjacent  counties,  the  results  of  his  labors  being  apparent 
yet.  If  he  did  not  found  the  church  in  Lafayette,  he 
was  chiefly  instrumental  in  its  first  considerable  increase. 

The  year  1848  he  labored  again  among  his  old  ac- 
quaintances in  Eastern  Indiana,  living  meanwhile  in  Con- 
neisville.  The  next  year  he  removed  to  Indianapolis  and 
opened  a  book  and  stationery  store.  But,  leaving  the  store 
in  care  of  his  son,  he  continued  his  untiring  labors  as  an 
evangelist. 

During  the  years  1851  and  1852,  he  made  a  thorough 
canvass  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  soliciting  subscriptions  to 
the  Northwestern  Christian  University  (now  Butler  Uni- 
versity). In  this  work  he  was  more  successful  than  any 
other  Indiana  man  could  have  been.  But  he  could  not 
forget  his  chosen  calling  even  during  that  period.  When 
about  to  visit  a  community,  he  sent  them  an  appointment 
to  preach.  His  reputation  nearly  always  gained  him  a 
good  hearing ;  and  he  would  preach  one,  two  or  three 
discourses  with  the  same  zeal  and  energy  that  he  would 
have  done  had  his  sole  mission  been  to  hold  a  protracted 
meeting.  At  some  opportune  time  he  would,  with  a  few 
words,  introduce  his  plea  for  the  University.      Between 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  145 

the  meetings  he  was  everywhere  and  after  everybody,  and 
few  persons  got  rid  of  him  without  making  what  he  con- 
sidered a  reasonable  donation,  or  taking  one  or  more 
shares  of  stock.  In  eighteen  months  he  raised  the  mini- 
mum of  stock  —  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  —  required 
by  the  charter. 

In  1859  he  removed  to  Independence,  Missouri.  Al- 
though advanced  in  years,  his  commanding  voice  at  once 
rang  out  over  the  prairies  of  Western  Missouri  in  the 
proclamation  of  the  Gospel,  and  ere  long  he  was  known, 
admired  and  loved  by  the  disciples  in  all  that  country. 
During  the  civil  war,  which  swept  Missouri  from  1862  to 
1865  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  he  returned  to  this 
side  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  resided  temporarily  in 
Illinois,  returning  at  the  close  of  the  war  to  his  home  in 
Independence. 

Two  years  ago  he  made  a  short  visit  into  Indiana  to  see 
the  friends  of  Auld  Lang  Syne.  The  report  of  his  com- 
ing made  many  hearts  flutter  with  joy  at  the  prospect  of 
seeing  the  beloved  face  and  the  flash  of  the  old  veteran's 
sword.  Many  thought  it  no  task  to  go  across  one  or  two 
counties  to  see  him  again  and  hear  him  preach  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ. 

In  the  meager  sketches  above  given,  mention  has  been 
made  of  Dr.  Ryland  T.  Brown.  This  is  another  whose 
wide  reputation  as  a  physician,  a  scientist  and  a  preacher 
of  the  Gospel  was  chiefly  formed  in  Eastern  Indiana. 
When  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age  his  father  moved  to 
the  southeastern  portion  of  Eush  county.  The  next  year 
he  made  a  profession  of  religion  and  became  a  member  of 
Clifty  Baptist  Church.  About  1826  he  became  a  sub- 
scriber to  the  Christian  Baptist,  and  after  the  reading  of 
a  few  numbers  of  that  periodical  he  'was  thoroughly  in- 
doctrinated with  the  principles  of  the  Reformation. 


146  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

"  His  first  overt  act  in  the  direction  of  reform  was 
in  this  wise  :  The  Flatrock  Association,  having  arrogated 
to  themselves  a  little  of  the  authority  given  to  the  Mes- 
siah, drew  up  certain  articles  of  faith,  and  recommended 
their  adoption  by  all  the  churches  of  which  the  said  ec- 
clesiastical body  was  composed.  The  matter  being  laid 
before  the  Clifty  Church,  a  motion  was  made  *  to  rescind 
the  old  articles  and  adopt  the  new.'  '  Brother  Brown,' 
then  only  nineteen  years  old,  called  for  a  division  of  the 
question,  the  first  part  of  which  passed  by  the  aid  of  no 
vote  more  cheerfully  given  than  his  own.  Having  thus 
freed  the  church,  for  a  moment,  from  the  bondage  of 
human  authority,  he  immediately  moved  to  adopt  the 
New  Testament  as  an  exponent  of  the  faith  of  that  con- 
gregation. This,  being  offered  as  an  amendment,  and 
promptly  seconded,  was  fairly  before  the  house  ;  and  to 
dispose  of  it  without  voting  directly  against  the  Bible 
cost  them  not  a  little  trouble." 

This  was  regarded  by  the  orthodox  portion  of  the 
church  as  an  act  of  impertinence,  and  remembered  against 
him.  Three  years  later  he  returned  from  Cincinnati,  a 
graduate  of  Ohio  Medical  College,  and  spent  some  time 
looking  about  for  a  suitable  location.  His  return  was 
in  the  midst  of  the  excitement  incident  to  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  principles  of  the  Reformation  by  John  P. 
Thompson.  As  soon  as  the  zeal  of  the  protracted  meet- 
ings had  somewhat  subsided,  the  ecclesiastical  powers 
arraigned  the  youthful  doctor  on  the  charge  of  being  a 
"  Campbellite."  The  church  of  Clifty  passed  the  follow- 
ing: 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  not  fellowship  the  doctrines 
propagated  by  Alexander  Campbell,  of   Bethany,    Vir- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  147 

In  an  account  of  his  expulsion  sent  to  the  Christian 
Baptist,  Dr.  Brown  says  : 

"Ientefecl  my  protest  against  this  resolution,  as  I  con- 
ceived it  was  intended  to  condemn  a  man  without  giving 
him  an  opportunity  of  defense.  But  I  soon  learned  that 
I  was  to  share  the  same  fate.  The  heresies  of  '  Camp- 
bellism,'  as  they  were  pleased  to  call  them,  were  charged 
home  on  me.  I  claimed  the  right  of  defense,  but  was  in- 
formed it  was  a  crime  which  did  not  admit  of  a  defense. 
I  next  denied  the  charge  of  being  the  disciple  or  follower 
of  any  man,  and  required  the  proof  of  it.  I  was  again 
told  that  no  evidence  was  necessary.  Thus,  you  see,  I 
was  charged  without  truth,  tried  without  a  hearing,  and 
condemned  without  evidence ;  and  thus,  in  due  form  de- 
livered over  to  Satan  as  an  incorrigible  heretic.,, 

From  1832,  at  which  time  Dr.  Brown  located  in  Con- 
nersvilie,  until  1842,  he  devoted  himself  to  his  profession 
as  a  physician,  but  found  time  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
many  parts  of  the  surrounding  country.  The  State  meet- 
ing, held  in  Connersville,  in  1842,  pppointed  four  mis- 
sionaries— one  for  each  quarter  of  the  State — to  ascertain 
the  location  and  strength  of  the  churches  and  the  pros- 
pect of  obtaining  funds  for  maintaining  missionary  work 
in  promising  fields.  The  Doctor  took  the  southeastern 
part  of  the  State  for  his  work,  traveled  the  whole  year  on 
a  promise  of  five  hundred  dollars,  and  received  only  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

Incessant  professional  labors  told  on  a  physique  not 
very  rugged  at  the  best,  and  the  Doctor  betook  himself 
to  manual  labor  for  one  year  on  hygienic  principles.  Re- 
stored to  health,  he  removed  to  Crawfordsville,  where  he 
resumed  the  practice  of  medicine  and  the  work  of  an 
evangelist. 


148  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

We  have  not  space  to  follow  him  through  his  subse- 
quent career,  healing  the  sick,  preaching  the  Gospel, 
going  through  Wabash  College  and  graduating  after  he 
was  forty  years  old,  serving  as  State  Geologist,  lecturing 
on  temperance,  and  finally,  with  honor,  filling  the  chair 
of  Professor  of  Natural  Science  in  Northwestern  Chris- 
tian University.  We  have  introduced  so  much  of  his 
history  as  necessary  to  illustrate  the  radiation  of  the  light 
of  the  Reformation  from  Eastern  Indiana.  Some  state- 
ments from  Dr.  Brown's  own  pen,  kindly  furnished  us 
for  use  in  this  work,  will  confirm  what  has  been  advanced 
and  afford  considerable  additional  information.     He  says  : 

"  There  were  four  radiating  points  for  the  current  re- 
formation in  Indiana,  viz:  Little  Flatrock  Church  in 
Rush  county,  Liberty  Church  in  Jefferson  county,  Silver 
Creek  Church  in  Clark  county,  and  New  Hope  Church  in 
Columbus,  Bartholomew  county.  These  were  indepen- 
dent of  each  other  at  first — indeed,  did  not  know  each 
other's  existence.  The  Rush  county  centre,  however, 
was  the  most  prominent,  and  ultimately  absorbed  the 
others,  chiefly  through  the  itineracy  of  John  O'Kane.  A 
number  of  churches  of  the  Old  Christian  Connection  ex- 
isted in  Eastern  and  Southern  Indiana  as  early  as  1825,  and 
several  Separate,  or  Freewill  Baptist  Churches,  without 
any  human  creed,  were  formed  about  that  date.  John 
P.  Thompson  began  the  work  in  Rush,  in  December, 
1828,  and  was  early  joined  by  William  McPherson, 
both  Baptists.  A  Baptist  church  was  organized,  with  no 
creed  other  than  the  Scriptures,  at  Fayetteville,  in  the 
spring  of  1829,  and  offered  itself  for  membership  in 
Whitewater  Association.  Its  case  was  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee which  reported  unfavorably,  at  the  next  meeting, 
in  1830.  Thomas  Jameson  (father  of  L.  H.  Jameson), 
of  the  Christian  Connection,   began  moving  towards  us 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  149 

as  early  as  1827,  and  by  1831  was  in  full  accord.  New 
Hope  Church  was  excluded  from  the  Flatrock  Baptist 
Association  in  October,  1829,  for  having  dispensed  with 
the  articles  of  faith.  On  the  second  Lord's  day  in  May, 
1830,  <  The  Church  of  Christ  in  Little  Flatrock, '  was  or- 
ganized with  thirty-eight  members,  most  of  them,  like 
myself,  excluded  from  the  Baptist  Church  on  the  general 
charge  of  *  Campbellism.'  Several  other  churches  of 
this  model  were  organized  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State 
in  1830.  In  1833,  the  churches  of  Christ  in  Eastern  In- 
diana, then  numbering  fifteen,  employed  John  O'Kane  to 
travel,  preach  and  organize  churches,  fixing  his  salary  at 
two  hundred  dollars,  payable  chiefly  in  produce." 

From  the  same  communication  we  make  the  following 
extract  concerning  Dr.  Brown's  labors  in  connection  with 
Benjamin  Franklin  : 

"  I  first  met  Benjamin  Franklin  at  Milton,  Indiana,  in 
the  summer  of  1836,  I  think.  He  was  attending  a  grove 
meeting  conducted  by  Brother  O'Kane.  Between  this 
and  1843  we  frequently  held  protracted  meetings  in  com- 
pany in  Fayette,  Rush,  and  Decatur  counties.  A  charac- 
teristic incident  I  now  recall :  We  were  holding  a  meet- 
ing  in  Decatur  county.  Brother  Franklin  had  preached 
from  Paul's  charge  to  Timothy,  *  Preach  the  word.'  A 
Methodist  preacher  objected  that  we  could  not  under- 
stand the  word  alike.'  Brother  Franklin  promptly  replied 
that  we  could  not  understand  it  differently.  If  we  dis- 
agreed about  it,  it  was  evident  that  one  or  both  of  us  did 
not  understand  it  at  all.  We  could  not  both  understand 
it,  and  yet  disagree  about  it. 

"  I  was  never  a  revivalist,  but  I  sowed  much  good  seed 
in  Eastern  Indiana,  and  rejoiced  in  the  co-operation  of 
such  noble  spirits  as  Benjamin  Franklin  in  this  work  of 
self-sacrifice." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

/TV  HE  former  chapter  was  devoted  more  especially  to 
JL  the  introduction  of  the  Reformation  into  Eastern 
Indiana,  and  the  leading  men  who  participated  in  the 
wTork.  This  region  has  been  repeatedly  alluded  to  as  a 
center  from  which  the  light  of  reformation  and  restora- 
tion radiated.  That  it  may  be  so  regarded  is  evident 
from  the  history  already  given,  and  what  immediately  fol- 
lows will  further  illustrate  that  point.  The  work  of 
Samuel  Rogers,  who  planted  the  church  on  Deer  Creek — 
the  church  which  became  the  mother  of  Benjamin,  Daniel, 
and  David  Franklin  and  John  I.  Rogers  ;  the  work  of 
Cary  Smith,  in  Wayne  county  and  southward  ;  and  the 
labors  of  John  P.  Thompson,  B.  F.  Reeve,  R.  T.  Brown, 
and  Jacob  Daubenspeck  in  Rush  and  Fayette  counties,  are 
now  before  the  reader.  He  has  seen  the  Franklins,  and 
especially  Benjamin,  pushing  out  in  every  direction,  bap- 
tising hundreds  of  people  and  planting  churches  in  their 
course.  He  has  seen  Smith,  Thompson,  Reeve,  Brown 
and  Daubenspeck,  occasionally  extending  their  labors 
southward  and  westward.  He  has  seen  John  O'Kane 
pushing  westward  and  restoring  the  ancient  Gospel  and 
order  of  worship  in  Indianapolis,  Crawfordsville,  Lafay- 
ette, and  many  intervening  points,  and  finally  carrying  his 
lamp,  full  of  oil,  trimmed  and  burning,  into  Missouri.  If 
it  were  necessary  to  emphasize  upon  this  point  we  could 
refer  the  reader  to  the  biographical  sketch  of  George 
Campbell,  which  will  presently  be  given. 

We  shall  see,  hereafter,  that  operations  at  this  center 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  151 

had  much  to  do  with  some  of  those  public  enterprises 
among  the  Disciples,  which,  when  called  in  question,  gave 
rise  to  much  discussion,  and  engendered  a  great  deal  of 
bad  feeling.  But  in  the  present  chapter  we  shall  adhere 
less  strictly  to  the  plan  heretofore  pursued,  and  introduce 
persons  and  incidents  miscellaneously,  only  limiting  our- 
selves to  those  more  or  less  directly  connected  with  our 
main  theme — the  life  and  labors  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 

George  Campbell  was  born  in  Brewer,  Maine,  Febru- 
ary 8th,  1807.  He  is  descended  on  his  grandfather's 
side  from  the  Campbells  of  Scotland,  but  his  paternal 
grandmother  was  an  Irishwoman.  His  father  was  born 
in  Maine.  His  mother  was  of  a  Massachusetts  family, 
originally  from  Germany.  The  blood  of  three  distin- 
guished nations  coursed  in  his  veins.  But  to  Americans 
a  man's  genealogy  is  of  no  consequence  except  as  indi- 
cating the  national  traits  of  character  which  he  may  have 
inherited.  George  Campbell  is,  however,  an  interesting 
study  to  us  on  account  of  what  he  did  in  disseminating  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  throughout  Indiana. 

He  never  contemplated  a  scientific  or  classical  course  at 
school.  He  had,  however,  an  academical  course  and  two 
years  at  Water ville  College.  This,  with  his  diligence  as 
a  student  since,  placed  him  at  his  ease  among  scholars. 

His  religious  impressions  were  received  from  his  mother 
who  was  a  New  England  Congregationalist.  In  New 
England  there  were  numerous  societies  which  took  the 
general  name  of  "  Liberal  Christians."  These  societies 
usually  included  Universalists,  Unitarians  and  Free  Think- 
ers. In  1830,  Mr.  Campbell,  under  the  auspices  of  one 
of  these  societies,  assumed  the  duties  of  a  public  minister 
or  M  clergyman."  He  was  a  member  of  the  Maine  Con- 
vention of  Universalists  fur  a  time.       But  two  years  later 


152  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

he  went  to  Boston,  and  severing  his  connection  with  the 
Universnlists  (  or  Restorationists,  rather,  for  such  they 
really  were),  he  joined  the  Bullfinch  Street  Congrega- 
tional Church.  Dr.  Paul  Dean,  the  pastor,  believed  in 
the  divinity  of  Christ  in  the  strict  orthodox  sense.  Under 
him  Mr.  Campbell  studied  theology,  and  in  1833,  received 
license  to  preach  from  the  Congregational  Association  in 
Boston. 

Thus  armed  for  "  the  ministry  of  the  word  "  of  Con- 
gregationalism he  set  out  for  the  West,  and  arrived  in 
Cincinnati  just  as  the  Asiatic  cholera  broke  out  in  the  city. 
The  first  Sunday  after  his  arrival  in  the  city  he  preached 
in  one  of  the  Congregational  churches.  On  Monday  he 
was  seized  with  the  dreadful  scourge  and  came  near 
dying.  Recovering  from  this  sickness,  he  visited  a  rela- 
tive in  Fayette  county,  Indiana.  Pleased  with  the 
country  and  solicited  by  his  friends,  he  sojourned  here 
and  preached  the  doctrine  of  his  church. 

His  history  at  this  point  has  been  compared  to  that 
of  Paul,  around  whom  there  shone  a  very  sudden  and  un- 
expected light.  We  rather  incline  to  Cornelius  as  a  case 
to  which  his  was  more  analogous.  There  was  no  miracle 
and  no  heavenly  visitant ;  but  George  Campbell  was  "  a 
devout  man,  who  feared  God,"  and,  considering  his  lim- 
ited means,  "  gave  much  alms  to  the  people."  It  can 
scarcely  be  doubted,  either,  that  his  prayer  and  his  alms 
went  up  as  "  a  memorial  before  God.'' 

"At  this  time,"  says  Mr.  Evans,  "the  Church  of 
Christ,  at  Connersville,  Fayette  county,  was  under  the 
oversight  of  Elder  Jesse  Holton  and  Dr.  R.  T.  Brown, 
now  Professor  of  Natural  Sciences  in  the  Northwestern 
University,  and  then,  as  now,  an  efficient  laborer  in  word 
and  doctrine.     On  the  arrival   of  this  brilliant  New  Eng- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  153 

land  preacher  in  that  community,  there  was  no  small  stir 
among  his  brethren,  who  were  almost  disposed  to  say  of 
his  preaching,  "  it  is  the  voice  of  a  God,  and  not  of  man  ; 
so  satisfactorily,  to  them,  could  he  establish  their  cher- 
ished theories.  They  insisted  that  the  Christians  should 
give  him  a  hearing,  and  he,  in  turn,  was  invited  to  come 
out  and  hear  the  Christians." 

"Not  long  after,  when  the  Church  of  Christ  at  that  place 
had  'assembled  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  to  break  bread/ 
Mr.  Campbell  entered  and  seated  himself  near  Dr.  Brown. 
Being  invited  to  preach,  he  declined.  The  invitation  was 
renewed;  and,  thinking  there  must  be  some  misunder- 
standing, he  frankly  confessed  that  he  was  not  of  •  that 
way.  '  i  No  matter,  |  said  the  doctor,  '  for  this  very  rea- 
son we  desire  to  hear  thee,  what  thou  sayest.  '  Consent- 
ing to  preach,  he  took  for  his  text,  Actsxvi.,  31,  'Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved/  from 
which  he  delivered  an  excellent  discourse  relative  to  the 
power  of  faith  to  purify  the  heart,  reform  the  life,  and  save 
the  soul.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon  Dr.  Brown  followed 
with  some  remarks.  He  heartily  endorsed  all  that  had 
been  said  of  faith,  'but,'  said  he,  'there  are  two  chapters 
in  a  man's  life  :  the  past  and  the  future.  Faith,  by  puri- 
fying the  heart  now,  may  regulate  the  future  ;  but  it  can- 
not reform  the  past  or  blot  out  the  transgressions  that  are 
already  recorded  in  the  book  of  God's  remembrance. '  He 
then  proceeded  to  show  that,  in  the  divine  economy,  bap- 
tism, with  its  proper  antecedents,  is  designed  to  free  us 
from  our  'old  sins,  while  faith,  by  purifying  the  heart,  is 
to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  new  offenses,  and  thus  present 
every  man  perfect  in  the  sight  of  God.  At  the  conclusion 
of  these  remarks  Mr.  Campbell  had  described  with  his 
chair  the  quadrant  of  a  circle,  and  was  sitting  directly  in 
8 


154  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

front  of  the  speaker,  regarding  him  with  a  look  very  sim- 
ilar, no  doubt,  to  that  of  the  ancient  Scribe,  when  he  said 
to  the  Savior,  'Well,  Master,  thou  hast  said  the  truth.' 
Like  the  Scribe,  too,  he  was  then  'not  far  fiom  the  king- 
dom of  God!'" 

After  the  meeting  he  had  a  long  interview  with  Dr. 
Brown,  from  whom,  with  all  the  meekness  of  a  child,  he 
received  the  more  perfect  instruction  in  the  way  of  the 
Lord.  He  then  set  to  work  to  investigate  the  Scriptures 
for  himself.  After  some  months  faithful  reading  and 
study  he  returned  to  Connersville,  made  the  good  con- 
fession as  if  he  had  been  a  newly  penitent  sinner,  and  was 
baptised  by  John  Lougley. 

Receiving  now  a  new  commission,  he  went  forth  to 
preach  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  The  next  six 
years  he  spent  in  Harrison,  Ohio,  and  the  adjacent  coun- 
try, excepting  one  year,  during  which  he  made  a  tour  to 
his  native  State.  From  his  mother,  when  he  was  a  boy, 
he  received  his  religious  impressions ;  to  her,  even  in  his 
manhood,  he  took  the  light  of  the  ancient  Gospel,  and 
immersed  her  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

In  1842  he  married  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Wile,  a  member  of 
the  Church  of  Christ  in  Harrison,  who  proved  to  be  a 
most  exemplary  Christian  mother,  and  uncomplaining 
preacher's  wife.  Six  children  of  her  own  she  reared  to 
manhood  and  womanhood,  suffering,  much  of  the  time 
and  with  the  patience  of  Job,  all  the  inconveniences  of 
poverty,  of  frequent  changes  of  location,  and  of  living 
alone  with  her  children.  She  still  survives.  Her  eldest 
son,  Walter,  also  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  is  a  widower 
with  four  children.  Mrs.  Campbell,  although  her 
tresses  are  silvered  over  by  age  and  the  trials  of  life, 
patiently  assumes  the  duties  of  a  mother  to  these  helpless 
little  ones. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  155 

Three  years  after  leaving  Harrison,  Mr.  Campbell  re- 
sided in  Oxford,  Ohio,  evangelizing  the  surrounding  coun- 
try as  well  as  he  could,  occasionally  making  tours  into 
Indiana,  Kentucky,  and  other  parts  of  Ohio. 

In  1845,  he  was  called  as  an  Evangelist  to  Rush  count}', 
Indiana,  and  to  aid  in  establishing  a  seat  of  learning  in 
that  comity.  After  traveling  several  months  he  took 
charge  of  a  high-school,  which  was  afterwards  merged  into 
the  celebrated  Fairview  Academy.  Mr.  Campbell  may 
be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  this  academy,  although  his 
efforts  were  heartily  seconded  by  others,  and  especially 
by  Woodson  W.  Thrasher,  a  liberal  and  enterprising  citi- 
zen and  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Fairview. 

At  the  State  meeting  in  1847,  held  that  year  at  Greens- 
burg,  George  Campbell  introduced  a  resolution  favoring 
the  establishment  of  an  institution  of  learning  in  Indiana 
of  the  highest  grade.  The  discussion  of  the  resolution 
was  followed  by  the  appointment  of  a  University  Com- 
mittee, to  report  at  the  next  annual  meeting,  and  the 
matter  was  never  dropped  until  the  Northwestern  Chris- 
tian University  was  established.  Mr.  Campbell  was  ap- 
pointed one  of  the  original  commissioners  by  the 
Legislature,  and  at  the  organization  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Directors,  which  position  he  held  as  long 
as  he  remained  in  the  State.  He  may  be  counted,  there- 
fore, as  one  of  the  prominent  educational  men  among  the 
Disciples  in  Indiana — he  was  a  founder  and  a  patron  of 
schools,  a  teacher,  and  for  some  years  a  county  examiner 
of  public  school  teachers. 

In  1848  and  1849  he  lived  in  Fulton,  an  eastern  suburb 
of  Cincinnati,  dividing  his  time  as  a  preacher  between 
the  school  at  Fulton  and  that  at  Harrison.  At  the  time 
he  was  a  partner  of  the  Christian  Age,  account  of  which 


156  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

will  be  given  hereafter.  Selling  out  his  interest  in  the 
paper  he  returned  to  Indiana,  traveled  as  a  ■•  home  mis- 
sionary "  in  Northern  Indiana,  and  finally  removed  to 
Oxford,  a  newly-made  county-seat  some  twenty-five  miles 
west  of  Lafayette,  Indiana.  While  residing  here,  and 
traveling  among  the  pioneers  of  a  country  full  of  malaria, 
his  system  became  so  affected  by  the  poison  that  for  five 
years  he  was  never  well,  and  often  preached  and  baptised 
while  shivering  with  a  chill  or  parched  with  the  fever.  It 
was  at  this  time,  doubtless,  that  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  intense  physical  suffering  which  he  underwent  in  his 
last  days. 

During  the  civil  war  he  lived  again  in  Rush  County 
and  preached  among  his  old  acquaintances.  Some  time 
after  the  close  of  the  war,  his  health  being  apparently  re- 
stored, the  spirit  of  the  itinerant  minister  took  possession 
of  him  again  and  he  moved  to  Illinois,  selecting  Eureka 
as  his  home  on  account  of  school  privileges  there  afforded 
to  his  younger  children.  Here,  after  a  lingering  and  painful 
sickness,  he  died,  August  24,  1872. 

In  some  traits  of  his  noble  character,  George  Campbell 
had  no  superiors  and  few  equals.  There  have  been  many 
who  had  as  full  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  he,  many  who 
were  profounder  scholars,  many  who  were  better  orators, 
and  many  who  were  better  writers.  Though  he  was  far 
above  the  average  in  all  these  particular^,  his  greatness 
lay  in  his  devotion  to  his  conscientious  convictions,  his 
pure  life,  and  his  earnestness  of  purpose. 

His  personal  appearance  promised  the  least  in  propor- 
tion to  his  abilities  of  any  man  we  have  ever  known.  He 
was  very  large  and  ill-shaped.  His  head  seemed  to  rest 
upon  his  shoulders.  His  cranium  enclosed  a  very  large 
brain  ;  but  his  hair,  which  was  coarse  and  abundant,  grew 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  157 

low  down  upon  his  forehead.  A  rubicund  countenance 
and  attitude  of  indifference  to  what  was  passing  around 
him,  completed  the  unpromising  contour  of  the  remark- 
able man  whose  bulky  form  was  always  to  be  seen  in  every 
convention  of  Disciples,  from  whom  nobody  expected  to 
hear,  but  who  was  sure  to  command  the  attention  of 
everbody  when  he  chose  to  speak. 

Younger  preachers  all  over  Indiana  can  bear  testimony 
to  his  great  sympathy  for  them  and  fatherly  assistance 
rendered  them  during  their  earlier  efforts  in  public  life. 
No  man  in  the  Reformation  has  been  more  forward  in  this 
respect  than  he.  The  writer  of  these  lines  can  scarce 
refrain,  even  here,  from  an  expression  of  gratitude  that, 
when  too  far  away  to  have  the  full  benefit  of  his  own 
father's  counsel,  a  gracious  Providence  gave  him  the 
sympathy  and  the  free,  helping  hand  of  George  Campbell. 

No  history  of  Benjamin  Franklin  could  be  complete 
without  frequent  reference  to  James  M.  Mathes,  who 
was  in  the  Reformation  eight  years,  and  in  the  edito- 
rial field  two  years,  in  advance  of  Mr.  Franklin.  Forty 
years  they  journeyed  together  in  the  wilderness.  Forty 
years  they  labored  on  as  co temporary  editors  and  evan- 
gelists "  in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  and  in  the  bond  of 
peace,''  no  unkind  thought  or  word  ever  passing  between 
these  two  men,  whose  souls  clave  together  as  did  the  souls 
of  David  and  Jonathan.* 

James  M.  Mathes  was  born  July  8th,  1808,  in  Jefferson 
county,  Kentucky.  His  father  and  his  mother  were  at 
first  Regular  Baptists ;  but  about  the  year  1825  they  fell 
out  with  Calvinism  and  joined  the  Christian  Connection. 
They  brought  up  their  children  so  strictly  "  in  the  nur- 


*Mr.  Mattes'  testimony  oil  this  point  will  be  given  in  a  subsequent  chapter, 


158  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

ture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,"  that  all  of  them  (six 
sons  and  five  daughters)  became  Christians,  and  three 
became  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 

While  his  parents  were  still  Calvinists,  his  religious 
feelings  were  aroused,  and  he  became  a  seeker  after  "  the 
knowledge  of  sins  forgiven."     But  the  light  around  him 

o  o  o 

was  only  an  ignis  fat aus — an  ever-receding  and  delusive 
light,  which  only  blinded  him  without  throwing  any  light 
upon  his  pathway.  Five  weary  years  dragged  their  slow 
length  along,  leaving  him  still  a  convicted  but  hopeless 
sinner.  The  tension  was  too  great  for  him,  and  he  lapsed 
into  skepticism.  But  after  a  time  he  roused  himself 
again,  and  determined  to  read  the  New  Testament  through 
without  any  reference  to  the  opinions  and  usages  of  those 
around  him,  and  see  if  he  might  not  draw  therefrom  some 
relief  to  his  overburdened  soul.  The  result  was  more 
than  he  could  have  anticipated.  The  light  of  God  broke 
in  upon  his  understanding,  and  gave  the  needed  light  to 
his  inner  man.  He  believed  the  Gospel,  and  determined 
to  obey  it. 

He  was  surprised,  on  communicating  his  views  to 
others,  to  find  some  very  pious  people  in  doubt  as  to  his 
conclusions,  and  to  hear  others  declare  that  he  was  under 
a  delusion  of  the  devil.  But  he  wearied  in  the  vain  effort 
to  find  peace  in  the  road  they  marked  out  for  him,  and 
was  more  settled  than  ever  in  the  conviction  that,  to 
believe  on  the  Lord,  as  he  knew  he  did,  and  obey  him  in 
Baptism  was  infallibly  right.  One  God-fearing  man, 
however,  by  the  name  of  Snoddy,  among  the  number  with 
whom  he  consulted,  gave  him  comfort  by  saying:  "Bro. 
James,  it  is  contrary  to  my  experience,  but  what  am  I 
that  I  should  withstand  God?  You  are  right.  It  is  the 
Lord's  word,  and  therefore  safe.  Go  on,  and  may  the 
Lord  bless  you,  my  son." 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  159 

It  must  be  noted  that,  at  this  time,  Mr.  Mathes  knew 
nothing  of  Mr.  Campbell  except  through  the  perverted 
statements  of  people  who  believed  him  to  be  heretic.  But 
in  1827  he  came  into  possession  of  a  few  numbers  of  the 
Christian  Baptist,  and  a  copy  of  "  The  Living  Oracles,' ' 
a  version  of  the  New  Testament,  published  by  Alexander 
Campbell.  These  documents  not  only  confirmed  him  in 
the  views  he  already  entertained,  but  gave  him  much 
additional  lijjht.  He  therefore  determined  at  the  first 
opportunity  to  demand  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins. 

« 'In  October  following,  he  attended  a  great  camp- 
meeting  held  by  the  <  Newlights  '  at  Old  Union  meeting- 
house, in  Owen  county.  On  Sunday  morning  he  walked 
out  with  Elder  John  Henderson,  one  of  the  principal 
preachers,  sat  down  with  him  on  a  log,  and  actually 
'  taught  him  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly.'  At  first 
the  good  man  listened  with  suspicion ;  but,  as  the  argu- 
ment progressed,  he  became  deeply  interested,  and,  final- 
ly, was  so  overwhelmed  with  evidence,  that  he  exclaimed: 
«  You  are  right,  my  son ;  it  is  the  Lord's  plan,  and  what- 
ever he  commands,  I  can  cheerfully  perform.  I  am  ready 
to  immerse  you  for  the  remission  of  sins.'  They  then 
returned  to  the  place  of  meeting,  and  at  the  end  of  a  dis- 
course by  Elder  Blythe  M'Corkle,  Father  Henderson, 
with  a  word  of  apology  and  explanation,  invited  sinners 
to  come  forward,  confess  the  Saviour  as  he  was  confessed 
in  primitive  times,  and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of 
sins.  J.  M.  Mathes  and  his  sister  Eliza  made  the  good 
confession,  were  immersed  straightway  by  Elder  Hender- 
son, and,  for  the  time  being,  united  with  the  ■  Newlight ' 
church. 

"  Immediately  after  his  immersion,  he  began  to  take 
an  active  part  in  the  public  prayer-meetings,  exhorting 


160  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

his  brethren  as  often  as  he  was  called  upon.  He  also  en- 
gaged earnestly  in  teaching  from  house  to  house,  and  by 
the  wayside,  the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 
He  may  be  said  to  have  entered  upon  his  ministry  when 
he  sat  down  on  the  log  with  Elder  Henderson  —  in  fact, 
when  he  first  discovered  the  divine  plan  of  pardon ;  for 
the  gray-haired  minister  that  immersed  him  was  really 
his  third  convert,  his  sister  being  the  second,  and  old 
brother  Snoddy  the  first." 

In  June,  1831,  the  Church  at  Old  (Jnion  was  brought 
into  the  ancient  order,  only  one  sister  holding  back. 
This  sister  afterwards  joined  the  Protestant  Methodists, 
and  became  a  preacher  among  them. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Mathes,  now  a  married  man,  moved  to 
Bloomington,  Indiana,  with  the  purpose  of  becoming  a  stu- 
dent of  the  State  University  at  that  place.  By  selling  off 
the  stock  from  his  little  farm  and  taking  four  preaching 
appointments,  he  was  enabled  to  maintain  himself  at 
school  until  somewhat  advanced  in  the  senior  year,  but 
was  compelled,  by  want  of  means,  to  leave  before 
graduating. 

By  the  year  1841,  when  he  left  the  University,  he  had 
grown  to  be  a  very  successful  evangelist.  During  the 
year  ending  May,  1843,  the  report  of  his  labors  showed 
that  he  had  immersed  six  hundred  and  seven  persons. 
This  was  the  greatest  success  he  has  ever  met  with  in  that 
direction.  But  he  has  for  many  years  brought  from  two 
hundred  to  four  hundred  into  the  fold  of  Christ  annually. 
By  the  year  1860  he  had,  with  his  own  hands,  immersed 
over  four  thousand  persons. 

The  Church  of  Christ  at  Bedford,  his  home  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  has  been  almost  exclusively  of  his  own  planting 
and   watering.     Iu  1860  he  was  living  in  New  Albany, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  161 

but  made  a  visit  to  his  children  at  Bedford.  While  there 
he  preached  on  Lord's  day,  expecting  to  return  to  his 
home  early  in  the  week.  Several  persons  making  the 
confession  on  Sunday  evening,  he  made  an  appointment 
for  Monday  evening.  The  meeting  was  continued  for 
three  weeks,  and  resulted  in  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
additions  to  the  church,  by  confession  and  baptism,  and 
forty  others  who  had  been  immersed  by  the  Baptists  and 
others.  Mr.  Mathes,  shortly  afterwards,  removed  to 
Bedford,  and  labored  with  the  congregation  at  that  place 
for  five  years  constantly,  and  with  such  success  that  the 
membership  came  to  number  four  hundred. 

Besides  his  labors  as  an  evangelist  and  teacher  of  the 
churches,  Mr.  Mathes  has  attained  considerable  distinction 
as  a  debater.  His  debates  have  been  quite  numerous,  and 
with  many  different  sects  and  parties.  He  is  clear  and 
decided  in  his  convictions,  and  has  no  difficulty  in  making 
an  audience  understand  his  arguments.  He  is  a  very 
fluent  and  easy  speaker,  and  the  manner  and  tone  of  the 
man  impress  the  hearer  with  the  fact  that  he  is  listening 
to  a  thoroughly  honest  person  who  believes  precisely  what 
he  says.  He  is  not  the  style  of  debater  needed  to  over- 
whelm and  stop  the  mouth  of  a  babbler.  But  to  maintain 
the  truth  to  the  conviction  of  people  having  good  and 
honest  hearts,  is  a  work  in  which  he  has  had  scarcely  a 
superior.  The  result  of  his  discussions  has,  therefore, 
been  uniformly  good,  and  in  some  cases  remarkably  suc- 
cessful. Sometimes,  after  an  enemy  has  been  entirely 
overthrown  and  silenced,  the  community  has  become  so 
excited  by  the  spirit  of  strife  engendered,  that  nothing 
could  be  done  toward  their  conversion.  But  Mr.  Mathes' 
debates  have  usually  been  followed  by  a  considerable  in- 
gathering into  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  a  weakening 
of  the  enemy's  forces. 


162  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

In  1843  the  Christian  Record  was  started.  It  was  a 
monthly  pamphlet  of  twenty-four  pages.  In  the  fifth  year 
it  was  enlarged  to  thirty-six  pages,  and  Elijah  Goodwin 
became  a  co-editor.  The  place  of  publication  was  changed 
from  Bloomington  to  Indianapolis,  and  thence  to  Bedford. 
Once  it  passed  from  his  hands  and  was  controlled  by  Mr. 
Goodwin,  but  in  1867  he  resumed  the  control  of  the  peri- 
odical, and  published  it  as  a  monthly  until  1875,  when  it 
was  consolidated  with  the  Evangelist,  of  Iowa.  Since 
that  time  it  has  been  published  simultaneously  from  Oska- 
loosa,  Iowa,  and  Bedford,  Indiana,  under  the  title  of 
Record  and  Evangelist,  J.  M.  Mathes,  senior,  and  G.  T. 
Carpenter,  junior  editor.  The  year  before  this  consolida- 
tion Mr.  Mathes,  aided  by  W.  B.  F.  Treat,  of  Blooming- 
ton,  started  a  Sunday-school  periodical  called  the  Gem, 
which  went  along  with  the  Record  into  the  "  Central 
Book  Concern,"  whence  it  is  still  issued  as  The  Little 
Christian, 

Mr.  Mathes  has  written  very  considerably  outside  of 
the  periodical  above  alluded  to.  He  is  author  of  several 
tracts,  and  of  a  book  entitled  "  Letters  to  Bishop  Mor- 
ris," reviewing  a  book  by  the  bishop  on  "  The  polity  of 
the  M.  E.  Church."  His  debate  with  T.  S.  Brooks,  of 
the  M.  E.  Church,  was  taken  by  a  competent  reporter  and 
published.  He  also  edited  several  editions  of  a  work  on 
the  Apocalypse,  entitled  "Voice  of  the  Seven  Thunders," 
and  comprising  eighteen  lectures  on  that  subject,  by  J.  L. 
Martin,  of  Southern  Indiana.  He  is  also  publisher  and 
author  of  a  number  of  the  sermons  in  a  book  of  thirty- 
one  sermons,  entitled  "The  Western  Preacher." 

In  1873,  Mr.  Mathes  lost  his  wife  after  a  happy  union 
of  forty-four  years  wTith  her.  She  was  a  devoted  Christian, 
of    whom  he  afterwards  could  say   that  "  to  her  faith, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  163 

earnest  piety,  and  great  devotion  to  the  cause  of  God,  I 
am  largely  indebted  for  my  success  as  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel."  Not  long  afterward  he  was  married  to  Mrs. 
Abigail  M.  Rickoff,  of  Cincinnati.  She  was  long  a  teacher 
in  the  schools  of  Cincinnati,  and  is  a  very  ready  writer. 
She  is  author  of  a  very  worthy  tract,  entitled  "Woman's 
Work  in  the  Church,"  which  has  had  a  large  sale.  They 
have  travelled  together  since  their  marriage,  devoting  a 
large  share  of  their  attention  to  the  Sunday-school  work, 
Mrs.  Mathes  aiding  greatly  in  this  direction  and  by  her 
ministrations  among  the  sisters.  In  a  letter  bearing  on 
the  subject  of  Sunday-schools,  Mr.  Mathes  advances  the 
following  sentiment,  with  which  it  would  be  well,  if  pos- 
sible, to  indoctrinate  the  membership  of  the  churches 
everywhere  : 

"I  regard  the  Sunday-school  as  the  School  of  the 
Church,  and  not  an  outside  institution  with  which  the 
church  has  nothing  to  do.  It  is  under  the  general  direc- 
tion  of  the  Eldership  ;  and  for  the  welfare  of  the  school 
the  church,  through  her  Eldership,  is  responsible.  Pa- 
rents should  always  go  with  their  children  to  the  Sunday- 
school,  sit  in  the  Bible-classes  and  study  the  lesson  with 
the  children.  In  this  view  of  the  case,  the  Sunday-school 
must  be  regarded  as  a  powerful  means  of  accomplishing 
good." 

Immediately  after  the  war  of  1812,  John  Wright,  as- 
sisted by  his  younger  brother  and  their  father,  residing 
near  Salem,  Washington  county,  Indiana,  began  to  preach 
the  doctrines  of  the  Free  Will  Baptists,  and  in  a  short 
time  had  organized  the  churches  which  united  in  "  The 
Blue  River  Association."  Mr.  Wright,  from  the  first, 
held  to  the  Bible  as  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice, 
and  that  humau  creeds  are  heretical   and  schismaticai. 


164  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

The  Association  was  therefore  formed  without  the  usual 
"  Articles  of  Faith. "  Thus  matters  went  on  till  1819, 
when  Mr.  Wright  offered  a  resolution  in  the  church  where 
he  held  membership  to  discard  the  name  "  Baptist."  His 
argument  was  as  clear  as  has  ever  since  been  made.  He 
held  that  individuals  might,  scripturally,  be  called 
"Friends,"  "Disciples,"  or  "Christians,"  while,  as  a 
body,  they  should  be  called  "  The  Church  of  Christ,"  or, 
"The  Church  of  God."  He  objected  to  the  name 
"  Christian  Church,' '  because  it  is  not  found  in  the  apos- 
tolic writings.  The  resolution  was  passed  at  once,  and 
within  two  years  all  the  churches  of  the  Association  had 
abandoned  the  name  "  Baptist."  The  Association  was 
changed  to  an  Annual  Meeting.  This  was  seven  years 
before  the  dissolution  of  Mahoning  Association  in  the 
Western  Reserve,  Ohio,  to  which  reference  will  be  made 
in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

While  this  reformation  was  going  on  among  the  Free 
Will  Baptists,  there  was  a  violent  discussion  of  Trine 
Immersion  among  the  Tunkers,  of  whom  there  were  fifteen 
congregations  in  that  section  of  country.  The  result  was 
a  very  decisive  victory  in  favor  of  one  immersion.  At 
this  juncture  of  their  affairs,  Mr.  Wright  proposed  to  the 
Annual  Meeting  to  send  a  delegation  to  the  Annual  Con- 
ference of  the  Tunkers,  with  a  view  to  union  with  them. 
A  letter  was  prepared,  and  Mr.  Wright  was  made  the 
chairman  of  the  delegation  to  bear  the  letter  to  its  desti- 
nation. The  effort  was  successful,  and  a  permanent  union 
was  effected. 

At  the  suggestion  of  this  same  peace -maker,  John 
Wright,  and  from  the  same  Annual  Meeting,  similar  over- 
tures were  made  to  the  Christian  Connection,  or  "  New- 
lights."    A  joint  convention  was  held  near  Edinburgh,  and 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  165 

all  the  churches  of  the  "Connection"  save  one,  entered 
heartily  and  permanently  into  the  union. 

"A  few  years  subsequent  to  this,  the  work  of  Reforma- 
tion began  to  progress  rapidly  among  the  Regular  Bap- 
tists of  the  Silver  Creek  Association.  This  was,  remote- 
ly, through  the  influence  of  Alexander  Campbell,  but 
directly  through  that  of  Absalom  and  J.  T.  Littell,  and 
Mordecai  Cole,  the  leading  spirits  in  that  locality.  Through 
their  teaching,  hundreds  of  individuals  and  sometimes 
whole  churches  were  renouncing  all  human  creeds  and 
coining  out  on  the  Bible  alone:  yet  a  shyness  existed 
between  them  and  those  who  had  previously  done  the 
same  thing  under  the  labors  of  JohnWright.  The  former, 
having  held  Calvanistic  opinions,  stood  aloof  through  fear 
of  being  called  Avians;  while  the  latter  feared  to  make 
any  advances  lest  they  should  be  stigmatized  as  Gamp- 
bellites.  Thus  the  two  parties  stood,  when  Elder  Wright, 
braving  the  danger  of  being  denounced  as  a  Campbellite, 
established  a  connection  between  them  by  which  the  sen- 
timents of  each  were  communicated  to  the  other.  By 
this  means  it  was  soon  ascertained  that  they  were  all  en- 
deavoring to  preach  and  practice  the  same  things.  The 
only  important  difference  between  them  was  in  regard  to 
the  design  of  Baptism,  and  on  this  point  Elder  Wright 
yielded  as  soon  as  he  was  convinced  of  his  error.  Through 
the  influence  of  himself,  his  brother,  Peter  Abram  Kern, 
and  others,  on  the  part  of  what  was  called  the  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  Southern  District,  which  was  composed  of 
those  who  had  been  Baptists,  Tunkers  and  Newlights ; 
and  through  the  efforts  of  Mordecai  Cole  and  the  Littells, 
on  the  part  of  the  Silver  Creek  Association,  a  permanent 
union  was  formed  between  those  two  large  and  influential 
bodies  of  believers.      In   consequence   of  this   glorious 


166  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

movement,  more  than  three  thousand  struck  hands  in  one 
day  —  not  in  person,  but  through  their  legal  representa- 
tives, all  agreeing  to  stand  together  on  the  one  found- 
ation, and  to  forget  all  minor  differences  in  their  devotion 
to  the  great  interests  of  the  Kedeemer's  kingdom." 

In  1817,  Beverly  Vawter,  a  Southern  Indianian,  be- 
came exercised  on  the  subject  of  religion.  He  had  been 
raised  a  Baptist,  and  "  sought  a  hope"  according  to  the 
Baptist  usage,  but  without  success.  In  his  devotions  he 
read  and  meditated  much  on  the  Scriptures.  He  had  be- 
come much  interested  in  the  apostolic  commission  as 
given  by  Matthew  and  Mark,  and  in  Acts  of  Apostles. 
While  he  was  meditating:  and  wondering  at  the  difference 
between  these  passages  and  usages  of  the  Baptists,  he 
chanced  to  read  Barton  W.  Stone's  essay  on  Faith.  This 
so  influenced  his  mind  that  he  told  his  wife  he  meant  to 
be  baptized  and  rely  on  the  promise  of  Jesus  for  pardon. 
His  wife,  after  hearing  his  views,  agreed  with  him,  and 
they  were  soon  immersed,  by  John  M' Clung  of  the  Chris- 
tian Connection.  Mr.  Vawter  entered  public  life  at  once, 
and  was  soon  known  throughout  a  large  district  as  a  very 
successful  preacher.  He  stood  squarely  upon  the  Bible 
alone  as  a  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  upon  the  name 
Christian,  as  did  all  the  "  Connection."  In  1828  he  had 
not  yet  heard  of  Alexander  Campbell,  but  had  advanced 
so  far  as  to  venture  to  preach  baptism  for  the  remission 
of  sins.  A  Baptist  preacher  who  was  present  took  him 
to  task  for  it,  and  volunteered  a  sermon  to  show  that  it 
was  a  M  rotten  doctrine  —  not  *  wrong,'  but  rotten."  He 
also  stated  that  a  man  (referring  to  Alexander  Campbell) 
had  recently  gone  through  Kentucky,  preaching  that  doc- 
trine, and  unsettling  all  the  Baptist  churches.  In  the 
promised  discourse  he  made  a  very  fair  statement  of  Mr. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  167 

Campbell's  views  and  the  arguments  by  which  he  sup- 
ported them,  and  labored  hard  to  point  out  wherein  the 
doctrine  was  wrong.  At  the  close,  Mr.  Vawter  said  to 
him:  "  Well,  brother  Douglas,  you  did  not  refute  it. 
You  have  been  of  great  service  to  me  to-day,  in  telling 
me  how  Mr.  Campbell  presents  that  subject."  Mr.  Vaw- 
ter never  faltered  in  preaching  baptism  for  the  remission 
of  sins  after  that  day. 

The  influence  of  Alexander  Campbell's  teaching  ex- 
tended for  some  }^ears  farther  than  his  name  was  known. 
Those  who  urged  that  the  Bible  alone  is  a  sufficient  rule 
of  faith  and  practice,  that  faith  is  the  belief  of  the  truth, 
that  man  is  a  responsible  being,  that  the  followers  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  should  be  recognized  only  by  Bible  names, 
etc.,  did  not  advertise  these  as  Mr.  Campbell's  views. 
And  so  passing  from  one  to  another  they  came  to  be  re- 
ceived by  many  persons  who  knew  nothing  of  Mr.  Camp- 
bell. In  some  cases  men  accepted  "  baptism  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins"  as  taught  in  the  Bible,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  looked  upon  Mr.  Campbell  as  a  great  heretic 
for  preaching  baptismal  regeneration,  and  never  once 
suspecting  that  this  was  only  a  perversion  of  what  he 
really  taught. 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  leaven  which  a  woman 
took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal  till  the  whole  was 
leavened."  The  leaven  of  the  Reformation  came  near 
leavening  the  whole  Baptist  lump.  For  a  period  of  near 
twenty-five  years  the  Baptist  churches  seemed  to  be  in  a 
state  of  disintegration.  New  Reformers  were  appearing 
everywhere,  teaching  what  the  knowing  ones  called  the 
heresies  of  Campbellism,  unsettling  the  foundations  of 
the  old  traditions,  and  leading  people  to  the  belief  of  the 
facts  concernino;  Jesus  the  Christ,  and  to  his  commands 
and  promises  as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament. 


168  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF  FRANKLIN. 

Our  limits  forbid  that  we  should  go  farther  with  these 
narratives.  But  we  have  enough  for  our  purpose — 
enough  to  make  the  reader  fairly  acquainted  with  the 
times  in  which  Benjamin  Franklin  came  before  the  public, 
and  with  the  class  of  men  who  were  his  immediate  prede- 
cessors or  his  co-laborers  during  the  days  when  his  char- 
acter was  formed.  Those  were  stirring  times  in  the  his- 
tory of  religion.  They  were  days  of  great  mental  activity 
and  of  intellectual  freedom.  They  were  days  when  noble 
men,  with  no  fear  but  the  fear  of  the  Lord  before  their 
eyes,  went  forth  to  clear  away  the  rubbish  and  to  repair 
and  rebuild  the  waste  places  in  Zion.  They  were  days  to 
the  people  of  the  past  generation  like  those  days  in  which 
the  Jews  returned  to  Jerusalem.  In  a  strange  land  they 
hung  their  harps  upon  the  willows  and  sang  no  more  the 
songs  of  Zion.  And  among  strange  people  they  read  no 
more  out  of  the  book  of  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  had 
forgotten  his  counsels.  But  they  returned  at  the  exhor- 
tation of  the  man  of  God  who  "  opened  the  book  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  people ;  and  when  he  opened  it  all  the 
people  stood  up  ;  and  Ezra  blessed  the  Lord,  the  great 
God.  And  all  the  people  answered  amen,  amen,  with 
lifting  up  their  hands.  *  *  *  The  Levites 
caused  the  people  to  understand  the  law ;  and  the  people 
stood  in  their  place.  So  they  read  in  the  book,  in  the 
law  of  God  distinctly,  and  gave  the  sense,  and  caused 
them  to  understand  the  reading." 


CHAPTBB  X. 

(J)  ENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  was  never  idle.  If  he  did  not 
(Jj  find  the  most  inviting  field  open  to  his  evangelical 
efforts,  he  occupied  his  time  in  such  places  as  he  could 
get  a  hearing.  If  he  could  not  have  the  use  of  a  meeting- 
house, he  would  preach  in  a  hall,  a  shop,  a  barn,  a  private 
house.  If  he  did  not  get  a  large  audience,  he  would  preach 
to  a  few  persons.  If  he  did  not  have  promise  of  large  re- 
muneration he  would  accept  a  small  amount  for  his  services. 
In  the  mid-day  of  his  distinction,  when  he  was  accused  of 
preaching  only  for  rich  churches,  he  often  held  meetings 
where  he  did  not  realize  above  ten  or  twelve  dollars  per 
week  beyond  his  expenses.  He  was  not  so  watchful  and 
considerate  of  his  pay  as  some  of  his  intimate  friends 
thought  he  ought  to  be. 

Preach  he  would,  unless  prevented  by  some  uncon- 
trollable circumstances.  When  he  had  regular  appoint- 
ments in  some  established  church  (which,  however,  was 
only  for  a  small  portion  of  the  long  time  he  labored  as 
preacher) ,  he  would  preach  three  or  four  times  through 
the  week  in  school-houses,  barns  or  residences  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  church,  and  frequently  beg  to  be  ex- 
cused from  his  stated  work  to  hold  protracted  meetings 
elsewhere. 

But  with  all  his  zeal  he  never  thrust  himself  upon  a 
community  who  did  not  want  him.  Sometimes,  and 
especially  after  the  unhappy  differences  which  have  dis- 
turbed so  many  churches  had  arisen,  there  would  be  a 
party  in  the  church  opposed  to  him.  But  in  such  cases 
he  believed   the   opposing  party  to  be  seriously  in  the 


170  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

wrong,  and  labored  with  them  in  a  fraternal  spirit  to 
abandon  their  attempts  to  improve  upon  the  simple  gospel 
and  form  of  worship  which  were  revealed  at  the  begin- 
ning, and  scarcely  ever  preached  many  discourses  in  such 
places  without  effecting  harmony  among  the  members  of 
the  church.  In  his  earlier  efforts  to  make  a  reputation 
that  would  place  him  in  a  position  to  be  useful  in  the 
cause  of  Christ,  if  ever  in  his  life,  he  would  have  in- 
clined to  elbow  his  way  into  public  notice.  As  to  his 
manners  at  this  time  we  have  a  very  satisfactory  com- 
munication, furnished,  along  with  many  other  interesting 
items  for  use  in  this  book,  by  his  life-long  co-laborer  in 
the  editorial  and  evangelical  fields,  James  M.  Mathes,  of 
Breford,  Indiana.  This  letter  speaks  of  their  first  and 
last  acquaintance,  and  we  insert  it  entire : 

"I  am  some  three  years  older  than  Benjamin  Franklin, 
and  commenced  preaching  a  little  in  advance  of  him. 
About  the  middle  of  May,  1838,  Arthur  Crihfield,  editor 
of  the  Heretic  Detector,  a  monthly  periodical  of  some  merit, 
published  in  Covington,  Kentucky,  met  me  in  the  city  of 
Indianapolis,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  meeting  of  some 
days.  Benjamin  Franklin  heard  of  the  contemplated 
meeting,  and  came  in  from  Henry  county,  Indiana,  where 
he  then  lived,  as  I  now  remember. 

"Here  we  met  for  the  first  time.  Brother  Franklin  was 
a  very  modest  young  man,  and  requested  brothers  Jameson 
and  Sulgrove  not  to  make  him  known  to  the  preachers 
until  he  had  heard  them  preach.  We  knew  he  was  in  the 
audience,  but  had  no  introduction  to  each  other  till  after 
the  meeting. 

"From  that  day  forward  he  and  I  were  co-laborers  in 
the  evangelical  and  editorial  fields.  The  last  time  we  met 
was  at  his  meeting  in  Bloomington,  Indiana,  in  May,  1878. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  171 

He  had  been  holding  a  meeting  of  days  at  the  Shoals,  in 
Martin  county.  He  had  intended  to  come  to  my  house  on 
the  day  he  left  the  Shoals,  on  the  way  to  Bloomington, 
but  missed  the  train  at  Mitchell.  He  therefore  hired  a 
man  to  bring  him  to  my  house  in  a  hack  (ten  miles. )  His 
health  was  very  poor,  and  the  drive  was  too  much  for  him  ; 
but  after  resting,  his  strength  rallied,  and  he  seemed  to 
enjoy  himself  very  much.  He  remained  all  night  with  us, 
and  we  had  a  happy  re-union  after  several  years  of  sepa- 
ration. The  next  day  he  Avent  to  fill  his  engagement  at 
Bloomington,  and  during  the  following  week  my  wife  and 
I  stopped  at  his  meeting,  as  we  returned  from  Cloverdale, 
and  spent  several  days  with  him.  He  was  very  feeble  in 
body,  but  his  mind  was  clear  and  he  seemed  to  preach 
with  much  power. 

"But  when  we  parted  at  Bloomington  it  was  a  final  fare- 
well as  far  as  this  life  is  concerned.  He  has  done  his  work 
faithfully,  and  crossed  the  river.  There,  in  the  Paradise 
of  God,  he  is  waiting  for  us.  May  we  all  be  as  well  pre- 
pared as  was  he,  when  the  Master  calls  us ;  that  we  may 
meet  each  other  on  the  other  shore  and  be  forever  with 
the  Lord  and  each  other ! 

James  M.  Mathes. 
Bedford,  Indiana,  March  3d,  1879." 

The  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  these  two  men  ex- 
tended over  forty  years,  and  was  uninterrupted  by  any 
misunderstanding  or  ill  feeling,  although  they  were  editors 
and  publishers  for  many  years  of  periodicals  which  were, 
in  respect  of  finances,  rival  periodicals.*    Neither  was  he 

*  In  a  private  letter  accompanying  the  documents  above  referred  to,  Mr. 
Mathes  says :  "There  was  perhaps  no  man  among  us  with  whom  I  enjoyed 
more  intimate  relations  than  your  good  father.  For  near  half  a  century  we 
lived  on  the  most  intimate  terms  of  friendship  and  brotherly  love.  And  if, 
during  all  that  time,  there  ever  was  an  unpleasant  word,  or  thought,  or  feeling, 
between  us,  I  do  not  remember  it,  and  I  am  sure  there  was  none."       J.  F 


172  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

a  man  to  engage  in  anything  like  a  strife,  unless  under  the 
conviction  that  he  was  contending  for  some  principle  of 
the  righteousness  of  the  Gospel. 

This  perseverance  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  carried 
him,  as  already  mentioned,  as  far  south  as  Kentucky  and 
north-west  into  Michigan.  By  the  end  of  the  year  1846, 
he  was  well  enough  known  as  an  evangelist  to  receive  a 
call  to  labor  from  the  Church  of  Christ  on  Clinton  street, 
Cincinnati.  The  trip  was  a  very  unpleasant  one,  both 
going  and  returning.  The  "Canal  Boat,  Express  Mail," 
required  near  twenty  hours  from  Milton  to  Cincinnati. 
While  on  the  boat  Mr.  Franklin  wrote  : 

"We  have  traveled  in  cold  and  storm,  enduring  almost 
every  kind  of  fatigue ;  but  the  present  is  more  disagreea- 
ble than  anything  of  the  kind  we  have  ever  met  with. 
Some  twenty  of  us  are  crowded  into  the  small  cabin  of  a 
canal  boat,  and  of  all  the  miserable  stenches  from  chewing, 
snuffing,  smoking  and  spitting  tobacco,  we  were  ever  com- 
pelled to  witness,  this  is  the  nearest  beyond  the  possibility 
of  exaggeration.  But  what  is  worse,  if  possible,  the  com- 
pany is  almost  entirely  made  up  of  Deists,  whose  mouths 
scarcely  ever  open  without  pouring  out  the  most  shocking 
oaths  we  ever  heard.  And  to  augment  the  agony,  we  have 
on  board  one  of  the  most  foolish  old  drunken  wretches  we 
ever  saw.  This  old  creature  and  an  honest-hearted,  civil 
back-woods  youth,  are  the  subjects  of  all  the  jests  and 
pranks  of  the  skeptics  on  board.  All  manner  of  foolery 
that  can  be  invented  is  continually  going  on.  A  good 
portion  of  the  time,  some  one  is  sawing  on  an  old  fiddle, 
while  others  are  whacking  down  their  cards,  amidst  the 
most  horrible  profanity  imaginable. " 

The  journey  homeward  would  try  the  muscle  and  nerve 
of  croquet-playing  preachers  so  severely  as  to  destroy 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  173 

their  interest  in  the  game  for  many  days.     The  editorial 
account  of  it  is  as  follows  : 

"  While  we  were  in  the  city,  the  great  flood  carried  off 
the  canal,  and  left  us  to  get  home  as  best  we  could.  We, 
therefore,  took  stage  to  Harrison,  a  mud- wagon  thence 
to  Brookville,  and  traveled  on  foot  to  Matamora,  nine 
miles.  Here  we  were  kindly  offered  a  horse  by  our  be- 
loved brother  Pond.  We  rode  the  horse  within  six  miles 
of  home,  where  we  fortunately  had  an  opportunity  of 
sending  him  home,  and  paddled  the  remainder  of  the  way 
homeward  through  the  mud,  to  find  our  printer  sick  and 
The  Reformer  two  weeks  behind  time." 

The  meeting  in  the  Clinton  street  church  continued 
two  weeks,  but  with  few  accessions  to  the  church.  At 
this  meeting  he  first  met  Alexander  Hall,  author  of 
"  Universalism  Against  Itself,"  of  whom  we  gave  an  ac- 
count in  a  former  chapter.  It  was  the  acquaintance 
formed  at  this  meeting  which  opened  the  way  for  his  re- 
moval to  Cincinnati  three  years  later. 

The  union  of  the  Gospel  Proclamation  and  Western  Re- 
former took  place  at  the  end  of  the  year  1849.  The 
announcement  of  the  union  was  made  as  early  as  May. 
The  editor  of  the  Reformer  said  : 

"  Brother  Alexander  Hall  and  myself  have  corresponded 
at  various  times  on  the  subject  of  a  union  of  papers,  since 
he  commenced  the  publication  of  the  periodical  styled 
The  Gospel  Proclamation;  and  at  one  time,  some  eighteen 
months  ago,  came  to  an  agreement;  but  finding  some  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  at  that  time,  he  declined  by  my  con- 
sent. We  have  lately  renewed  the  courtship,  completed 
the  marriage  contract,  and  appointed  the  time  when  the 
Gospel  Proclamation  and  ^Western  Reformer  shall  be 
made  one." 


174  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES   OF 

This  marriage,  like  many  others  following  engagements 
once  broken  off  and  afterward  renewed,  was  not  entirely 
a  happy  one.  The  subscription  list  had  been  run  up  to 
seven  thousand  five  hundred,  but  the  proprietor  of  The 
Proclamation  and  Reformer  soon  found  himself  embar- 
rassed for  want  of  funds,  and  was  ready  to  listen  to  over- 
tures from  David  S.  Burnet,  for  a  partnership  and  a 
removal  to  Hygeia,  the  pleasant  country  home  of  Mr. 
Burnet,  some  seven  miles  north  of  Cincinnati. 

But  ere  we  proceed,  we  must  go  back  a  little  in  point 
of  time,  and  hastily  sketch  the  history  of  another 
periodical. 

In  1844,  Walter  Scott  moved  to  Pittsburg,  and  soon 
after  began  the  publication  of  a  weekly  paper  called  The 
Protestant  Unionist.  The  name  is  indicative  of  the  lead- 
ing thought  in  the  mind  of  the  editor  in  the  publication 
of  the  periodical.  Mr.  Franklin  paid  it  this  flattering 
compliment  in  noticing  its  third  volume  :  "  This  paper  is 
not  surpassed  in  chasteness,  ability,  Christum  spirit,  or 
mechanical  appearance  by  any  newspaper  in  our  acquain- 
tance. "  It  was  with  the  venerable  editor  of  this  periodi- 
cal that  Mr.  Franklin  had  the  first  editorial  tilt  giving 
rise  to  ill-feeling.  Mr.  Scott,  probably  with  the  idea  in 
his  mind  to  which  the  name  of  his  periodical  gave  promi- 
nence, placed  the  following  at  the  head  of  his  editorial 
column,  and  kept  it  there  during  several  issues  without 
note  or  comment : 

"  1.  The  truth  in  our  religion  to  be  believed  in  order 
to  salvation,  its  creed,  is  one  —  is  the  great  mystery  of 
godliness  —  God  manifested  in  the  flesh  —  the  Divinity 
of  Christ. 

«.'  2.  The  ordinances  are  two  —  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  175 

"  3.  The  union  of  the  church  is  double — visible  and 
invisible. 

"  4.  All  are  visibly  united  to  Christ  who  believe  on 
Him  with  the  heart  unto  righteousness  as  a  divine  person, 
and  the  outward  symbol  of  this  faith  is  the  individual 
ordinance  — Baptism. 

"  5.  All  the  saints  in  any  city  form  but  one  church  — 
the  church  of  God  for  that  city ;  and  the  symbol  of  their 
public  concord — of  their  external  visible  union — is  the  so- 
cial ordinance  —  the  Lord's  Supper.  A  plurality  of 
tables  in  any  city  is  the  proclamation  to  mankind  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  in  that  city  is  divided  against  itself. 

"  6.  Finally,  the  only  infallible  evidence  of  the  legiti- 
macy of  our  baptism,  and  of  our  communion  with  the 
saints  at  the  Lord's  Table,  is  a  holy  life  and  a  conscience 
void  of  offence  towards  God  and  man  in  hope  of  eternal 
life." 

The  editor  of  The  Western  Reformer  took  exception  to 
these  statements,  premising  that  we  "  frankly  state  that 
we  cannot  second  the  motion  to  adopt  the  articles :" 

"  1.  When  the  first  article  states  that  'The  truth  in 
our  religion  to  be  believed  in  order  to  salvation,  its  creed, 
is  one,'  etc.,  is  it  not  implied  that  there  are  other  truths 
in  our  religion  that  are  not  to  be  believed,  or  that  are  not 
necessarily  to  be  believed  in  order  to  salvation? 

44  2.  We  should  be  pleased  to  hear  some  one  give  a 
good  reason  why  Protestants  hold  that  '  the  ordinances 
are  two.'  Why  call  baptism  an  ordinance  anymore  than 
prayer?  or  why  call  the  Lord's  supper  an  ordinance  any 
more  than  singing  with  grace  in  our  hearts  to  the  Lord? 
An  "  ordinance,"  as  we  suppose,  is  simply  that  which  is 
ordained  or  appointed,  and,  since  prayer  and  singing  are 
just  as  much  ordained  or  appointed  as  baptism  and  the 


176  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP 

Lord's  supper,  we  can  see  no  good  reason  for  calling  two 
of  them  ordinances  that  does  not  apply  to  the  other 
two. 

"  3.  <  The  union  of  the  church  is  double — visible  and 
invisible.'  This  is  new  to  us,  and  therefore  we  can  say 
but  little  except  to  ask  one  or  two  questions.  As  the 
scriptures  speak  of  but  one  kind  of  union,  called  the 
«  unity  of  the  faith,'  we  should  be  pleased  to  know  which 
they  refer  to,  the  visible  or  the  invisible.  When  the 
Apostle  commanded  us  to  be  '  perfectly  joined  together 
in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment,'  did  he  mean 
the  visible  or  the  invisible  union?  Are  not  visible  and 
invisible  rather  calculated  to  confuse  than  to  enlighten  the 
mind,  when  applied  to  union? 

"  4.  i  All  are  invisibly  united  to  Christ  who  believe  on 
him  with  the  heart  unto  righteousness  as  a  divine  person. 
And  we  should  be  pleased  to  know  why  such  are  not  vis- 
ibly united  to  him  ? 

"  5.  '  All  the  saints  in  any  city  form  but  one  church 
— the  church  of  God  in  that  city  ;  and  the  symbol  of  their 
public  concord — of  their  external  visible  union — is  the 
social  ordinance — the  Lord's  supper.'  We  cannot  help 
but  believe  that  the  symbol  of  external  union  is  also  the 
symbol  of  internal  union.  And  while  « a  plurality  of 
tables  in  any  city  is  the  proclamation  to  mankind  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  in  that  city  is  divided  against  itself,'  it 
is  as  much  the  proclamation  to  mankind  that  there  is  no 
invisible  union  as  that  there  is  no  visible  union. 

"  6.  The  sixth  article  we  believe  to  be  strictly  true; 
but  five  hundred  more  might  be  stated,  equally  true, 
without  including  the  whole  of  Christianity.  No  article 
is  broad  enough  for  '  Christian  union,'  unless  it  embraces 
the  whole  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  177 

11  We  are  ready  to  unite  with  any  who  will  unite  on  the 
Lord's  truth — the  whole  of  it  and  nothing  but  the  Lord's 
truth,  and  then,  as  either  of  us  shall  find  that  we  do  not 
understand  any  part  of  it,  we  can  advance  in  knowledge 
without  violating  our  articles  of  faith.  We  want  union 
with  all  who  receive  the  word  of  God  and  obey  it,  and  we 
desire  no  union  with  any  who  will  not  do  this.', 

When  Braddock  had  been  led  into  an  ambuscade,  and 
was  likely  to  have  his  army  destroyed  by  the  Indians, 
George  Washington,  then  only  a  colonel  in  the  Virginia 
militia,  asked  leave  to  take  the  Virginia  troops  and  light 
the  Indians  in  their  own  way.  The  haughty  general  in- 
dignantly repulsed  him,  exclaiming:  «'  It  is  a  high  time 
of  day  when  a  young  Buckskin  would  teach  a  British 
general  how  to  fight !"  Such  a  feeling  seemed  to  possess 
the  editor  of  the  Protestant  Unionist  on  reading  the  com- 
ments of  the  Western  Reformer  on  his  '«  Principles  of  our 
own  Reformation."  He  wrote  an  editorial  over  three 
columns  in  length,  closing  with  these  words :  "Surely 
the  time  is  fully  come  when  a  struggle  should  be  made  to 
redeem  the  first  principles  of  our  own  reformation  out  of 
the  hands  of  those  who  have  laid  hold  of  them  without 
knowing  what  they  were  about ;  and  who  have  set  up,  it 
would  appear,  to  teach  a  religion  to  others  the  one-half  of 
which  they  do  not  understand  themselves."  Mr.  Frank- 
lin's rejoinder  is  very  brief,  and  contains  but  one  sentence 
intended  to  be  derogatory  to  his  venerable  and  highly 
cultured  critic :  '«  We  wrote  with  as  much  respect  for 
the  age,  learning,  and  talent  of  the  venerable  editor  of 
that  paper  as  we  possibly  could  to  express  a  shade  of  dif- 
ference with  him,  and  know  that  we  did  it  in  love  and 
without  ostentation.  But  the  compliments  returned  from 
that  quarter  are  not  calculated  to  flatter  the  readers  of 


178  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

that  print  or  ourself  with  the  idea  that  much  goodness  or 
sound  understanding  pertains  to  the  character  called  *  an 
editor.'  "  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Franklin  was 
then  but  thirty-live  years  of  age,  and  only  in  the  third 
year  of  his  editorial  career,  and  that  he  was  an  uneducated 
man.  It  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  wonder,  therefore, 
that  he  misapprehended  the  scope  of  the  Unionist  as  that 
his  scalpel  should  have  cut  so  clean  and  smooth  through 
joints  compacted  by  such  strong  rhetorical  ligaments. 

From  the  time  that  Benjamin  Franklin  began  to  make 
his  influence  as  an  editor  felt  beyond  his  own  immediate 
district  of  country,  there  were  persons  who  criticized  his 
periodical  as  to  its  literary  defects,  and  affected  to  feel 
outraged  by  it  on  that  account.  As  the  feeling  of  denom- 
inational respectability  increased,  and  zeal  in  urging  our 
distinctive  plea  subsided,  these  criticisms  increased  in 
number  and  severity,  until,  finally,  various  efforts  were 
made  for  the  introduction  of  what  was  called  "a  higher 
order  of  literature,"  by  the  starting  of  new  periodicals. 
On  this  subject  we  shall  write  more  fully  hereafter. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Scott  moved  the  Protestant  Unionist  to 
Cincinnati.  George  Campbell  assisted  in  making  this 
change,  and  during  some  weeks  conducted  the  paper  in 
the  absence  of  Walter  Scott.  Near  the  close  of  the  year 
he  and  others  purchased  the  Protestant  Unionist,  and  it 
was  merged  into  the  Christian  Age,  of  which  Dr.  Gatchell 
and  T.  J.  Melish  were  editors.  During  the  same  year, 
Dr.  Gatchell  sold  out  to  George  Campbell,  and  T.  J. Melish 
sold  his  interest  to  D.  S.  Burnet.  The  sole  charge  and 
management  of  the  paper  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
cholera  in  the  city,  and  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Melish, 
devolved  upon  Mr.  Campbell.  After  the  sale  of  an  interest 
in  the  periodical  to  Mr.  Burnet,  Mr.  Campbell  returned 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  179 

to  Rush  county,  Indiana,  but  continued  to  be  a  joint  pro- 
prietor and  associate  editor  until  in  the  spring  of  1850, 
when  he  sold  out  his  interest  to  Benjamin  Franklin.  A 
partnership  was  then  formed  between  Burnet  and  Franklin, 
and  both  papers  were  published  from  the  same  office 
during  the  remainder  of  that  year  and  throughout  the 
next  year.  The  Christian  Age  was  a  weekly,  in  news- 
paper form.  The  Proclamation  and  Reformer  was  a 
monthly  pamphlet,  as  before,  but  enlarged  to  seventy-two 
pages.  Mr.  Burnet  and  Mr.  Franklin  were  not  only  joint 
proprietors,  but  joint  editors  in  both  papers. 

The  reader  will  now  desire  to  know  something  of  the 
history  of  Mr.  Franklin's  new  partner.  In  furnishing  this 
information,  we  shall  draw  chiefly  upon  the  sketch  given 
by  W.  T.  Moore  in  "  The  Living  Pulpit  of  the  Christian 
Church,"  condensing  to  suit  our  narrow  limits. 

David  Staats  Burnet  was  born  in  Da}  ton,  Ohio,  July 
6,  1808.  He  claimed  to  be  a  lineal  descendant  from  Gil- 
bert Burnet,  Bishop  of  .Saulsbury,  so  conspicuous  during 
the  great  English  Revolution  under  William,  Prince  of 
Oran  s:e. 

When  eight  years  of  age,  his  parents  removed  to  Cin- 
cinnati. At  the  early  age  of  thirteen,  his  father  having 
been  elected  mayor  of  the  city,  David  was  taken  into  the 
office  as  his  father's  clerk.  About  the  same  time,  he 
received  the  ordinance  of  sprinkling,  in  accordance  with 
the  Presbyterian  faith,  to  which  he  had  been  brought  up. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was  an  active  worker  in  the 
Sunday-school,  which  led  him  into  a  careful  study  of  the 
Scriptures.  His  investigations  soon  convinced  him  of 
some  of  the  errors  of  Presbyterianism,  and  especially  of 
infant  sprinkling  for  baptism,  and,  therefore,  on  the  2<Jt h 
of  December,  1824,  he  was  immersed  and  became  a 
member  of  the  Enon  Baptist  Church. 


180  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP 

"It  is  worthy  of  remark,"  observes  Mr.  Moore,  "  that, 
at  this  time,  he  was  unacquainted  with  the  teaching  of 
Alexander  Campbell  and  those  associated  with  him  in 
pleading  for  a  return  to  primitive  Christianity  ;  and  yet, 
he  rejected  the  authority  of  human  creeds,  and  declined 
to  accept  any  test  of  faith  but  the  word  of  God,  basing 
his  application  for  baptism  on  Rom.  x:  6-10,  not  knowing 
that  any  one  else  had  done  so  before.  On  this  account, 
it  was  with  some  hesitation  that  he  was  received  by  the 
Baptists,  his  views  being,  in  many  respects,  at  variance 
with  their  established  usage." 

Although  but  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he  was  baptised, 
he  began  at  once  to  preach  the  gospel.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  he  had  attained  such  a  degree  of  success  that  he 
received  a  call  to  preach  in  Dayton,  Ohio. 

"  In  the  autumn  or  winter  of  1827,  the  youthful  preacher 
united  with  Elder  William  Montague,  of  Kentucky,  in  the 
organization  of  the  Sycamore  Street  Baptist  Church,  of 
Cincinnati.  This  church  numbered  about  eighty  members 
at  the  time  of  its  organization,  and  adopted  a  platform  of 
principles  much  more  liberal  and  progressive  than  those 
usually  adopted  by  the  Baptist  churches  at  that  time. 
But  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  as  advocated  by 
Alexander  Campbell,  Walter  Scott,  and  others,  now  be- 
came generally  known,  and  their  influence  upon  the  Bap- 
tist churches  throughout  the  West  was  very  great,  in 
some  places  completely  absorbing  whole  districts  and  enlist- 
in^  a  very  earnest  interest  in  favor  of  the  plea  for  the  return 
to  Primitive  Christianity.  The  Sycamore  Street  Church 
was  not  free  from  this  influence,  and  it  was  not  long  until 
a  division  took  place,  the  twTo  portions  forming  different 
congregations,  and  finally  growing  into  the  present  (1867  ) 
Ninth  Street  Baptist  Church,  and  the   Christian  Church, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  181 

corner  of  Eighth  and  Walnut  streets.  Brother  Burnet 
adhered  to  the  latter  named  organization,  and  from  that 
time  until  the  day  of  his  death  was  thoroughly  identified 
with  the  movement,  and  a  zealous  defender  of  the  princi- 
ples and  practices  advocated  by  the  Disciples  of  Christ. 
"And  here  again  we  find  him  yielding  to  his  honest 
convictions,  in  opposition  to  every  worldly  interest.  It 
is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  more  self-sacrificing  act  than 
that  which  breaks  away  from  wealth,  position,  fame, 
friends,  relatives,  and  last,  though  not  least,  religious 
associations,  and  unites  present  hopes  and  an  eternal  des- 
tiny with  a  movement  which  promises  nothing  in  this  life 
but  ignominy  and  shame,  and,  in  the  popular  estimation, 
nothing  in  the  life  to  come  but  everlasting  ruin.  Only 
honest  and  earnest  convictions  could  induce  any  sane 
man  to  enter  upon  such  an  unpromising  adventure.  And 
yet  this  is  just  what  the  subject  of  this  sketch  did.  The 
people  with  whom  he  associated  himself,  religiously,  were, 
at  that  time,  held  in  very  low  esteem  by  the  different  re- 
ligious parties  into  which  the  Protestant  world  was 
divided.  Nor  could  it  be  expected  otherwise.  The  plea 
which  they  made  struck  at  the  very  foundation  of  all  the 
existing  religious  sects ;  hence  it  is  reasonable  enough  to 
suppose  the  sects  would  bitterly  denounce  a  movement 
which  had  for  its  object  their  complete  destruction.  This 
very  attitude  of  the  Reformation*  arranged  all  the  hosts  of 
sectarianism  against  it.  The  contest  was  a  fearful  one, 
and  the  odds  against  the  little  Spartan  band,  who  plead 


*Mr.  Moore,  in  all  his  abundant  labors  as  a  writer,  never  penned  words 
truer  or  more  fitly  spoken.  And  it  is  high  time  to  inquire  whether,  if  "  the 
attitude  of  the  Reformation  "  to-day  does  not  "  array  all  the  hosts  of  sectari- 
anism against  it,"  there  has  not  been  such  a  change  of  attitude  that  none 
can  speak  of  us  in  the  very  just  and  complimentary  phrase  applied  to  Mr. 
Burnet  in  the  above  paragraph. 


182  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF 

for  a  return  to  Apostolic  Christianity,  were  truly  appall- 
ing." 

44  But  truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail ;  and  our  brother 
lived  long  enough  to  see  his  brethren,  who  were  so  heart- 
ily despised  at  first,  rise  to  be  one  of  the  most  powerful 
and  influential  religious  peoples  in  the  land.  And  to  reach 
this  success,  no  one  labored  more  earnestly  and  steadily 
than  himself,  sacrificing  ease  and  comfort,  traveling  at 
times  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  working 
by  day  and  by  night,  preaching  the  Gospel,  organizing 
churches,  writing  for  the  papers,  editing  books,  teaching 
school,  in  fact,  doing  anything  that  was  necessary  toward 
pushing  on  the  cause  which  lay  so 'near  his  heart. 

"  On  the  30th  day  of  March,  1830,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Mary  G.  Gano,  youngest  daughter  of  Major-general 
John  S.  Gano.  She  had  been  immersed,  in  1827,  by 
Rev.  Jeremiah  Vardeman  ;  and  it  is  due  to  her  to  say  here 
that  she  always  faithfully  co-operated  with  her  husband 
in  all  his  efforts  to  spread  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God.  In  1833,  he  entered  actively  upon  the  work  of  an 
Evangelist.  He  made  an  extensive  and  successful  preach- 
ing tour  through  the  Eastern  States,  passing  through  Vir- 
ginia, then  further  North  to  the  seaboard  cities.  The 
result  of  his  labors  in  the  cities  visited  was  highly  satis- 
factory. Great  good  was  accomplished  in  stirring  up 
the  Disciples  to  a  more  active  zeal,  while  a  very  general 
interest  was  created  in  favor  of  the  Primitive  Gospel. 
Many  of  the  churches  that  now  exist  in  these  localities 
are  the  results  of  good  seed  sown  during  this  tour. 

"  On  returning  home,  he  commenced  his  career  as  an 
editor  and  publisher.  From  1834  to  1840,  he  published 
the  Christian  Preacher,  a  monthly  magazine,  containing 
choice  discourses  and   essays  on  the  great  themes  eon- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  183 

nected  with  man's  redemption.  This  exerted  a  good  in- 
fluence, and  had  considerable  circulation.  In  1846,  he 
published  the  Christian  Family  Magazine;  then  the 
Christian  Age  for  several  years.  At  another  time,  he 
published  simultaneously  The  Reformer,  The  Monthly 
Age,  and  the  Sunday- School  Journal.  He  also  edited 
the  Sunday-School  Library  of  fifty-six  volumes,  and  an 
edition  of  the  Christian  Baptist  in  one  volume.* 

"  In  all  these  publications  he  showed  considerable 
ability,  though  his  powers  as  a  writer  were  not  equal  to  his 
speaking  talent.  His  home  was  in  the  pulpit,  and  he  was 
never  so  able  in  any  other  department  of  labor. 

"As  an  educator  he  had  considerable  experience;  and, 
although  he  may  not  have  excelled  in  this  profession,  his 
career  was  highly  creditable  to  him.  For  two  years  he 
was  President  of  Bacon  College,  Georgetown,  Ky.,  and 
afterward  Principal  and  Proprietor  of  Hygeia  Female 
Athene um,  situated  on  the  heights  seven  miles  back  of 
Cincinnati.  In  both  of  these  places,  he  gave  evidence  of 
good  executive  talent,  and  respectable  ability  as  a  teacher ; 
but  it  was  not  the  work  he  most  desired  ;  consequently,  in 
1844,  he  resumed  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  church  on 
Sycamore  street,  Cincinnati,  and  subsequently  at  the 
corner  of  Eighth  and  Walnut  streets,  serving  in  all  sixteen 
years." 

Mr.  Burnet  was  among  the  first  to  urge  the  importance 
of  a  more  careful  oversight  of  the  churches,  especially  in 
the  cities,  and  perhaps  also  among  the  first  to  recognize 
the  distinctive  term,  "  the  pastor.' '  He  did  not  argue 
that  the  pastoral  office  is  a  distinct  office  from  the  elder- 


*  Mr.  Moore  apparently  overlooks  the  fact  that  Mr.  Burnet  had  partners  in 
some  of  the  above  publications.  He  was  never  sole  publisher  either  of  the 
Age  or  the  Reformer.  J.F. 


184  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF 

ship,  but  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  eldership. 
But  as  the  elders  selected  by  the  churches  are  generally 
not  competent,  or  will  not  perform  the  work,  such  meu 
should  be  provided  as  conscientiously  feel  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  "  feed  the  flock  of  God." 

In  1857,  he  spent  a  year  in  New  York  city.  The  next 
year  he  spent  evangelizing  in  Missouri  and  Kansas.  Re- 
turning thence  to  the  Eighth  and  Walnut  Street  Church, 
he  remained  but  a  short  time,  until,  in  1860,  he  became 
corresponding  secretary  of  the  American  Christian  Mis- 
sionary Society.  The  civil  war  soon  cut  off  the  resources 
of  the  society,  and  Mr.  Burnet,  resigning  his  secretary- 
ship, "  removed  to  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  became 
pastor  of  the  church  in  that  city,  where  he  remained  until 
his  death,  which  took  place  on  the  8th  of  July,  1867." 

He  was  sometimes  accused,  by  persons  who  did  not 
know  him  thoroughly,  of  being  an  "  aristocrat "  in  his 
feelings.  His  manners  were  dignified  almost  to  the  degree 
of  pompossity.  "He  was  always,  however,  deferential 
and  courteous,  even  to  the  humblest  individual,  but  his 
natural  reserve  sometimes  subjected  him  to  the  charge  of 
exclusiveness.  Nevertheless,  he  was  one  of  the  most 
social  and  agreeable  of  men,  but  his  sociability  was  not 
of  that  free,  outspoken  kind  which  disarms  criticism  and 
makes  every  one  feel  perfectly  at  home.  It  was  none  the 
less  genuine,  however,  on  this  account.*? 

Mr.  Burnet  was  less  than  four  years  the  senior  of  Mr. 
Franklin,  but  in  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  was  in  advance 
of  him  about  twelve  years.  He  was  not  a  classical  scholar, 
but  his  early  schooling,  his  familiarity  from  boyhood  with 
professional  life,  and  his  intimate  association  with  culti- 
vated people,  gave  him  a  literary  polish  to  which  Mr. 
Franklin  never  attained.     His  editorials  in  the  Reformer 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  185 

and  the  Age,  are  models  of  rhetorical  finish.  Mr. 
Franklin,  on  the  other  hand,  -with  very  inferior  literary 
attainments,  and  with  but  little  more  than  half  the 
experience  in  public  life,  had  an  intellectual  grasp  and 
penetration — a  development  of  the  intuitive  faculty,  which 
was  of  much  more  value  in  their  joint  work.  He  was, 
moreover,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  masses  of  the 
people,  and  could  use  a  language  which  made  his  thoughts 
intelligible  to  them.  Mr.  Burnet's  style  was  too  scholarly 
to  be  generally  popular.  Mr.  Franklin  was,  therefore, 
the  more  prominent  editor,  although  the  junior  in  the 
firm. 

The  home  of  Mr.  Burnet,  at  this  time,  was  on  the 
heights  three  miles  north  of  Cumminsville,  the  city  limits 
now,  but  then  four  miles  from  the  city.  He  had  a  flour- 
ishing female  boarding-school,  called  the  "Hygeia  Female 
Atheneum."  In  our  time,  when  boys  and  girls  are  sent 
to  the  same  schools,  and,  scarcely  separated  by  more  than 
the  aisles  running  between  the  rows  of  seats,  pursue  the 
same  studies,  an  advertisement  recalling  the  proposals  and 
regulations  of  a  truly  select  female  boarding-school  is 
quite  a  novelty,  entertaining  us,  like  the  skeleton  of  the 
mastodon,  as  a  reminder  of  what  once  lived  and  thrived, 
but  is  now  extinct.  This  "Atheneum"  proposed,  for 
"  moderate  extra  charges,"  to  teach  "  Piano,  Guitar, 
French,  Painting,  Wax  Fruit,  Wax  Flowers,  Shell  Work, 
Flowers  as  taught  in  Paris,  Embroideries,  etc.,"  and  pre- 
scribed for  "  Summer  Uniform,  Pink  and  Blue  Lawns. 
Common  Wear,  Dark  Plaid  Ginghams." 

It  has  often  been  remarked,  that,  when  the  current  of 
public  opinion  runs  strongly  in  a  given  direction,  the  most 
glaring  defects  in  systems  and  institutions  are  often  over- 
looked by  the  most  discerning  men.     The  editor  of  the 


186  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OP 

Reformer  visited  this  Atheneum,  saw  its  efficient  drill  in 
the  manipulation  of  classes,  and  in  the  marches  upon  the 
lawns,  and  then  commented,  without  thought,  as  to 
whether  the  course  of  study  tended  to  develop  girls  into 
active  and  useful  women.  He  published  the  advertise- 
ment above  referred  to,  and  in  an  editorial  note,  said : 
"  We  are  happy  to  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the 
above  advertisement.  This  institution  has  been  long  and 
favorably  known,  and  its  results  are  highly  pleasing  and 
interesting  to  those  who  take  pleasure  in  cultivating  and 
elevating  female  character." 

The  purchase  of  Mr.  Campbell's  interest  in  the  Christian 
Age  and  the  change  of  the  place  of  publication  were  so 
sudden  that  there  was  no  time  to  notify  the  readers  of  the 
Proclamation  and  Reformer  in  advance  of  the  change. 
The  March  number  was  issued  from  Milton,  Ind.  The 
April  number  was  sent  out  from  Hygeia,  Ohio,  in  which 
the  editor  said : 

"Our  readers  will  evidently  desire  to  know  what  this 
sudden  transition  to  a  new  place  of  publication  means. 
Let  us,  then,  assure  them  that  it  means  well.  It  is  all 
right.  It  is  no  freak,  but  a  cool  and  deliberate  arrangement 
for  good.  Our  well-known  and  much  esteemed  brother, 
D.  S.  Burnet,  has  become  a  partner  with  me  in  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Reformer.  From  his  well-known  and 
acknowledged  ability,  both  as  a  writer  and  a  public  speak- 
er, our  readers  may  calculate  upon  much  improvement 
in  our  publication,  while  we  shall  enjoy  a  partial  relief 
from  the  too  heavy  responsibility,  both  pecuniarily  and 
otherwise,  by  his  connection  with  it." 

Mr.  Burnet  as  intimated  above,  divided  the  pecuniary 
responsibility  in  the  publication  of  the  two  periodicals  is- 
sued by  them.     But  the  great  number  of  changes  through 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  187 

which  both  papers  had  gone  within  less  than  two  years, 
created  a  general  impression  of  instability  that  prevented 
any  considerable  increase  in  the  number  of  subscribers. 
The  Reformer,  already  too  large  for  the  price  at  which  it 
was  offered,  was  increased  to  seventy-two  pages.  A  mag- 
azine styled  "2%e  Christian  Age  Monthly ,"  was  made  up 
from  standard  articles  taken  from  both  papers.  This  Maga- 
zine was  too  stately  to  be  generally  popular,  and  it  was, 
therefore  a  constant  drain  upon  their  resources.  By  the 
end  of  the  year  1851  it  was  discovered  that  the  business  was 
an  actual  loss  to  the  proprietors.  Mr.  Franklin  learned, 
at  too  late  a  period  to  recover  himself,  that,  from  the  time 
he  added  the  lists  of  the  Gospel  Proclamation  to  those  of 
the  Western  Reformer,  he  had  damaged  his  financial,  if 
not  his  editorial  prospects,  and  was  anxious  to  be  relieved 
of  his  burden.  At  Milton  he  had  gained  a  little  property. 
This  had  been  sold  to  Mr.  Campbell  for  a  share  in  the 
Christian  Age,  It  was  all  involved  in  the  current  arrange- 
ment, and  he  freely  surrendered  it  to  be  rid  of  all  farther 
responsibility.  The  Christian  Age  Monthly  and  the 
Proclamation  and  Reformer  were  stopped,  and  the  Weekly 
Christian  Age  was  sold  to  Jethro  Jackson,  who  took  the 
paper  into  the  city,  and  conducted  it  during  the  year  1852, 
with  B.  F.  Hall  as  editor. 

As  Mr.  Burnet,  although  a  voluminous  writer,  has  left 
no  books,  we  will  furnish  the  reader  with  a  few  extracts 
which  will  serve  to  indicate  the  character  of  his  contribu- 
tions as  compared  to  those  of  Mr.  Franklin.  His  "Inau- 
gural" on  becoming  joint  editor  of  the  Reformer,  contains 
the  following : 

"Time  is  a  great  innovator.  He  both  builds  up  and 
pulls  down.  A  few  pyramids  and  columns  are  the  only 
early  works  of  man,    which  have  escaped  his  withering 


188  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP 

touch.  The  letters  and  laws  of  a  later  period  remain 
buried  in  the  grave-yard  of  nations  and  their  languages. 
The  face  of  things  is  ever  changing,  and  all  that  appertains 
to  ns  partakes  of  this  constant  mutation.  Nothing  was 
farther  from  my  expectation,  a  short  time  since,  than  my 
becoming  joint  owner  and  joint  editor  of* the  Proclamation 
and  Reformer ;  but  it  was  found  difficult  to  avoid  compli- 
ance with  the  solicitation  of  some  concerned. 

"  The  circulation  of  this  periodical  is  large,  and  con- 
sequently imposes  a  weighty  responsibility  upon  those 
who  have  the  editorial  control  of  it.  The  press  is  a  great 
formative  instrumentality,  and  daily  becomes  more  effec- 
tive for  good  or  for  ill.  But  that  department  of  this 
agency,  placed  under  religious  influence,  is  permanently 
useful  in  social  elevation.  A  rare  combination  of  quali- 
ties is  called  for,  in  him  whose  business  it  is  to  cater  to 
the  public  taste ;  and  a  still  rarer  one  to  guide  public 
opinion ;  and  more  than  all,  must  he  be  capable  and  faith- 
ful, who  would  conscientiously,  and  in  the  fear  of  God, 
employ  his  powers  in  the  advocacy  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness— of  religious  truth  and  holy  effort.  This  re- 
sponsibility will  now  .be  incurred  by  Brother  Franklin 
and  myself,  and  however  inadequate  either  of  us  may  feel 
ourselves,  to  accomplish  the  highest  good  possible  in  con- 
nection with  such  an  3nt3rprise,  the  reflection,  that  our 
efforts  are  employed  »  ihe  best  of  all  causes,  must  serve 
to  encourage  us  to  d  >  as  well  as  we  can." 

The  following  is  the  concluding  paragraph  of  a  sermon 
on  "  Shadows  of  the  Old  Covenant,  and  Substance  of  the 
New:" 

"Reader,  remember  the  words,  *  as  the  Lord  com- 
manded Moses.'  That  law-giver,  as  he  is  called,  does 
not  change  an  item  in  the  whole  of  this  scheme,  neither 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  189 

the  thing  nor  the  position  of  the  thing.  Yet  he  had  as 
much  warrant  as  we  have  to  alter  or  amend  the  order  of 
worship,  or  the  items  of  gospel  obedience.  Any  one  can 
perceive,  that  faith  in  Christ,  change  of  heart,  baptism, 
the  Christian  profession  and  spirit,  must  precede  com- 
munion or  other  Christian  privileges,  as  certainly  as  the 
altar  and  laver  were  outside  the  tabernacle.  Had  Moses 
placed  the  ark  of  the  covenant  and  golden  altar  in 
the  positions  of  the  altar  of  sacrifice  and  the  laver, 
he  would  not  only  have  marred  the  significance  and 
beauty  of  the  Jewish  religion,  but  he  would  have 
rebelled  against  God,  who  is  a  God  of  order.  Almost 
all  the  differences  amongst  Protestants,  arise  from  the 
various  arrangements  of  the  tabernacle  furniture,  they 
seeming  to  forget  that  there  could  be  no  change  here, 
because  the  divine  order  was  stereoptyped  more  than 
three  thousand  years  ago.  A  proper  attention  to  the 
typical  and  historical  arrangement  of  these  elements ;  a 
proper  regard  to  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  would 
exceedingly  promote  our  harmony  and  unity.' ' 

This  is  an  argument  which  Mr.  Franklin,  twenty-five 
years  later,  ealled  to  his  aid  and  emphasized  upon  in  op- 
position to  the  use  of  musical  instruments  in  the  worship. 

An  article  at  "  The  End  of  the  Year,"  (1850)  began 
as  follows: 

"  The  sweet  singer  of  Israel  says,  ■ The  day  is  thine, 
the  night  also  is  thine;  thou  hast- prepared  the  light  and 
the  Sun  ;  thou  hast  made  summer  and  winter.'  God  is 
in  every  good,  may  be  found  in  every  season  and  in  every 
clime,  speaking  in  every  wind,  or  breathing  life  in  every 
zephyr  to  the  tenderest  lily  or  the  tallest  oak.  He  has 
«  prepared  the  light  and  the  Sun  ;  or  the  seasons.  'Twas 
he    who  spread  the  blush  of  Spring   over   the   face   of 


190  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP 

nature,  who  reddened  it  into  the  glowing  heats  and 
bursting  fruitfulness  of  summer,  who  sobered  its  hues 
into  the  russet  brown  of  autumn.  'Tis  he  who  has  wrapt 
the  fallen  glories  of  the  year  with  the  spotless  winding- 
sheet  of  winter,  waiting  for  the  sweet  breezes  of  the 
South  to  revive  once  more  the  prostrate  world.  The 
career  of  life  is  thus  ever  pictured  before  us,  and  our 
journey  to  the  tomb  repeated  over  year  by  year.  But 
this  is  not  all,  the  wakening  Spring  is  another  life  from 
the  ruins  of  the  old  one.  A  new  year  is  born,  and  yet 
another  lesson,  it  is  the  fac  simile  of  the  old  one.  The 
seeds  of  the  old  year  are  the  germs  of  the  new.  Another 
life,  another  world,  is  preached  everywhere,  every  year, 
by  the  changing  seasons  and  the  reproductions  of  nature. 
The  cemetery  becomes,  to  the  ken  of  faith,  the  seed-bed 
of  a  new  state,  and  of  an  eternal  year,  It  preaches  the 
distinguishing  effect  of  moral  conduct  in  the  decision  of 
future  destiny,  *  whatever  a  man  soweth,  that  also  shall 
he  reap  !'  " 

The  first  of  a  series  of  articles  on  "  Faith,"  besides 
being  a  specimen  of  an  entirely  different  kind  of  writing, 
is  worthy  of  being  copied  and  read  everywhere.  We 
will,  therefore,  conclude  our  quotations  by  giving  it 
entire  : 

"  Considered  as  a  mental  affection,  faith  is  one  of  the 
most  common  and  important  that  distinguishes  our  spe- 
cies. It  is  one  of  the.  most  common — for  intelligence, 
neither  partial  nor  transcendent,  can  exist  without  it.  Its 
exercise  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  improvement.  To 
illustrate,  it  is  well  ascertained  that  our  only  medium  of 
direct  communication  with  the  external  universe,  is  the 
senses — the  five  senses.  Destroy  these  avenues  to  the 
soul,  and  the   universe  becomes  a  blank  to  the  unhappy 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  191 

solitary.  The  universe  of  sights,  the  universe  of  harmo- 
nies, of  forms,  of  odors,  and  of  gusts,  would  cease  to  be. 
Sights  without  a  beholder,  would  cease  to  delight  the  ear 
without  an  auditor  ;  in  fact,  there  would  be  no  external  to 
the  man,  and  the  very  existence  of  his  own  body  would 
be  a  debatable  question. 

"  But  it  is  ascertained,  with  equal  definiteness,  that 
there  is  a  method  of  our  communicating  indirectly  with 
external  nature;  and,  indeed,  with  all  things  external  to 
our  spirits.  That  is,  we  may,  in  the  absence  of  our  ex- 
perience, appropriate  the  experience  of  others  to  the  pur- 
poses of  our  improvement ;  hence,  the  experience  of  our 
predecessors,  or  our  distant  contemporaries,  becomes  our 
belief  or  faith.  They  know — we  believe.  What  they 
know  by  a  long,  and,  in  many  instances,  painful  experi- 
ence, we  may  learn  by  an  easy  exertion  of  faith  in  an  in- 
stant of  time.  Thus,  in  every  department  of  the  arts,  and 
in  every  branch  of  education,  the  knowledge  of  past  gen- 
erations becomes  the  first  lessons  of  youth,  and  the  in- 
tellectual gains  of  ages  are  expended  upon  the  present. 

"  Sense,  the  medium  of  direct  communication,  not  only 
cannot  acquaint  us  with  the  experience  of  other  ages,  but 
it  fails  equally  in  bestowing  upon  us  the  knowledge  of 
most  contemporaneous  existences  and  events.  The  senses 
cover  over  no  extent  of  time,  and  but  little  of  space. 
Vision,  the  most  extended  of  them  all,  is  effective  in  most 
cases  over  the  space  of  a  few  yards,  and  in  all,  but  a  few 
miles.  What,  then,  could  we  know  of  the  world  about  us 
without  the  aid  of  travelers,  observers,  experimentalists, 
etc.?  And  what  could  we  know,  with  all  the  world  for 
our  teachers,  without  faith? 

"And  this  is  not  all;  faith,  or  confidence  in  a  superior 
is  the  iuital  principle  of  a  literary  education.  The  child  is 


192  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

told  that  a  certain  character  is  A.  Here  a  call  is  made 
upon  his  faith.  He  is  further  told'  that  it  has  certain 
powers,  varied  according  to  the  rules  of  orthography. 
He  has  again  to  take  all  this  upon  trust,  and  he  performs 
as  many  acts  of  faith  upon  every  individual  of  the  alpha- 
bet, and  upon  every  first  combination  which  he  makes  of 
these  elements. 

"  Faith  is  necessary  to  life.  Our  mental  experience  is 
suspended  upon  it.  Let  sense,  or  the  direct  method  of 
obtaining  knowledge,  be  the  only  instructor  of  the  infant 
man,  and  his  knowledge  would  come  too  late.  Leave  him 
to  the  teachings  of  experience  to  learn  that  fire  will  burn, 
and  his  first  lessons  will  be  his  destruction.  Send  him  to 
the  water  to  learn  that  water  will  drown,  and  he  will  find 
a  watery  grave.  Send  him  to  the  precipice  to  learn  that 
a  fall  will  destro}'  life,  and  the  experiment  will  prove 
fatal — perhaps  he  will  expire  by  loss  of  breath  before  he 
reaches  the  earth,  owing  to  his  rapid  descent.  Instinct, 
the  protection  of  the  animal  tribes,  has  been  denied  him  ; 
faith  in  his  earthly  protector  in  his  only  safeguard. 
Therefore,  our  second  proposition,  that  it  is  among  the 
most  important  mental  affections,  is  fairly  sustained. 
Its  universality  and  its  importance  are  equally  demon- 
strated. 

"  If,  then,  all  earthly  improvement  and  even  natural 
life  is  suspended  upon  the  contingency  of  faith,  we  need 
not  be  surprised  that  God  has  also  suspended  eternal  life 
upon  the  exercise.  Indeed,  from  all  that  we  know  of  hu- 
man nature,  we  cannot  conceive  it  possible  that  any  other 
means  of  salvation  could  be  available.  The  cavil  of  the 
free-thinker  and  the  sneer  of  the  skeptic  at  this  feature 
of  our  holy  religion,  when  these  reasonings  are  under- 
stood, cease  to  excite  solicitude.     As  was  said  of  Jesus, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  193 

when  he  exhibited  his  power  in  healing  the  sick,  we  must 
exclaim  that  God  *  hath  done  all  things  well  V  The 
general  law  that  *  he  that  believeth  not  shall  b  con- 
demned/ is  founded  in  the  broadest  principles  of  right 
and    utility. 

"  What,  then,  are  the  objects  of  faith,  seeing  that  it  is 
so  essential  to  our  constitution  and  affairs?  The  apostle 
Paul  thus  defines  them  :  "  Now,  faith  is  the  confidence 
of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  conviction  of  things  invisi- 
ble." Hebrews,  xi ;  1.  This  distribution  precisely  agrees 
with  our  statement  that  sense  was  inadequate  to  inform 
us  of  objects  without  their  range  of  time  and  space.  This 
distribution  also  adapts  itself  to  our  two  great  intellectu- 
al wants — the  knowledge  of  our  origin  and  our  destiny. 

"  The  office  of  faith,  then,  is,  supremely  to  inform  us, 

"1.  Of  the  unseen  things  —  our  origin. 

"2.  The  things  hoped  for,  our  destiny — the  glorious 
immortality  of  the  just. 

"But  God,  who  always  does  things  right,  has  chosen 
in  these  revelations  of  faith,  to  include  the  all-absorbing 
knowledge  of  himself.  He  carries  us  immediately  to  the 
foundation  of  being,  of  light,  and  of  life.  We  are  made 
to  know  ourselves  by  the  vision  of  the  "  Cause  of  causes." 
The  creature  can  never  be  rightly  contemplated,  but  in 
the  light  of  his  relations  to  his  Creator.  The  subject 
must  be  studied  as  the  subordinate  of  the  King  of  kings 
—  the  dying  sinner  saved,  as  the  object  of  eternal  and  re- 
deeming Divine  Love.  For  three  reasons,  the  first  word 
in  the  Bible  is,  « In  the  beginning;'  the  second  is, 
'God.'" 

Mr.  Franklin  having  traded  his  little  home  in  Milton 
for  a  partnership  interest  in  the  Christian  Age,  was  com- 
pelled to  occupy  a  rented    property  at  Hygeia.       The 


194  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

place  was  not  a  village,  but  merely  the  site  of  Mr.  Bur- 
net's residence  and  school,  from  which  it  took  its  name. 
For  half  a  year  Mr.  Franklin's  family  occupied  a  large 
log  house  on  an  adjaceut  farm.  Mr.  Burnet  had  an  unoc- 
cupied school  building,  through  which  he  ran  two  or  three 
partitions,  and  thus  turned  it  into  a  dwelling  for  Mr. 
Franklin.  The  building  was  located  but  a  few  yards  from 
■  Mr.  Burnet's  residence.  The  temporal  surroundings  of 
the  two  families  were  so  different  that  free  social  inter- 
course was  impossible.  Mr.  Franklin  had  always  been 
poor,  and  had  a  large  family  to  maintain.  Their  living 
was  necessarily  of  the  very  plainest  kind.  Mr.  Burnet's 
family  had  always  been  accustomed  to  the  social  manners 
indulged  in  by  wealthy  people,  and  their  boarders,  some 
forty  or  fifty  in  number,  were  the  daughters  of  wealthy 
families.  This  disparity  of  circumstances  could  not  be 
overcome  by  common  membership  in  the  church  and  the 
partnership  of  the  husbands.  Mr.  Franklin's  family  could 
not  rise  above  a  feeling  that  they  were  somehow  subordi- 
nate and  merely  tributary  to  Mr.  Burnet's  splendid  es- 
tablishment. This  feeling  was  heightened  on  the  Lord's 
day,  the  day  which  should,  if  any  day  could,  put  all 
Christians  on  a  level,  when  Mr.  Burnet's  family  rolled  off 
in  a  fine  carriage  to  the  city  to  worship,  while  they  went 
on  foot  to  the  village  of  Mt.  Healthy,  one  mile  in  the  op- 
posite direction.  The  grace  of  God  may  teach  a  fami- 
ly to  endure  without  complaint  such  a  state  of  things. 
But  it  wrould  require  a  miracle  to  make  them  feel  at  ease. 
The  family  were  decidedly  unhappy.  Mr.  Franklin  was 
fully  conscious  of  this  state  of  the  case,  but  was  hopeful 
that  the  new  arrangement  for  the  periodical  would  be  so 
profitable  that  he  could  soon  place  his  family  in  a  more 
comfortable  situation.      But  when  the  business  did  not 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  195 

prosper,  the  discontent  of  his  family  made  him  more  wil- 
ling to  give  up  the  publication  business.  He  received 
nothing  for  his  interest  in  the  periodicals.  Mr.  Burnet 
took  the  business,  assumed  the  debts,  and  very  shortly 
sold  out  as  above  mentioned. 

On  their  removal  to  Hygeia,  Mr.  Franklin  and  his 
wife  took  membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Mt. 
Healthy.  The  congregation  was  small,  but  in  fine  work- 
ing order.  There  was  a  flourishing  Sunday-school,  in 
which  Mr.  Franklin's  children  found  the  society  which 
they  could  not  have  at  Hygeia,  and  through  which  their 
religious  feelings  were  awakened.  In  the  winter  of  1850- 
51  a  protracted  meeting  was  held  at  Mt.  Healthy,  during 
which  Mr.  Franklin's  three  oldest  children  obeyed  the 
Gospel,  being  all  of  them  who  were  then  old  enough  to 
understand  the  obligations  of  the  Christian. 

Amid  the  numerous  changes  through  which  the  "peri- 
odicals of  the  brotherhood"  were  continually  passing  in 
those  days,  it  has  been  difficult  to  note  all  the  persons 
who  were  concerned.  Perhaps  it  would  be  as  useless  as 
it  is  difficult  to  do  so.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1850, 
Alexander  Hall  and  William  Pinkerton  were  announced 
as  "  co-editors."  But  the  periodicals  only  mark  them  as 
what  would,  in  more  recent  journalism,  be  called  occa- 
sional contributors.  In  June,  Mr.  Hall  withdrew  as 
already  mentioned,  and  in  July,  L.  H.  Jameson  was  an- 
nounced as  a  co-editor  of  the  Proclamation  and  Re- 
former. 

It  was  during  these  two  years  at  Hygeia  that  the 
"American  Christian  Missionary  Society,"  the  "Ameri- 
can Christian  Bible  Society,"  and  the  "American  Chris- 
tian Publication  Society,"  began  to  attract  more  general 
attention,  and  were  brought  under  the  same  general  man-. 


196  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN, 

agement.  The  Bible  Society  was  first  organized  in  1845. 
A  "Tract  and  Sunday-school  Society"  was  formed  soon 
after,  and  in  1851  was  united  with  a  ."  Book  Concern  "  in 
the  "  Publication  Society.' •  The  "  Missionary  Society  ,f 
was  organized  in  1849.  These  three  establishments  had 
their  headquarters  at  Cincinnati,  and  naturally  inclined  to 
each  other  and  to  assume  the  management  of  all  denom- 
inational affairs. 

The  formation  and  co-operation  of  these  societies  soon 
created  a  demand  for  a  medium  of  communication  with  the 
public  atlarge.  Their  communications  were  made  through 
the  Reformer  and  the  Age  during  their  co-existence,  and 
through  the  latter  when  the  publication  of  the  former  was 
stopped.  The  Christian  Age  naturally  came  to  be  the 
"organ"  of  the  denominational  forces  concentrated  in  the 
societies.  How  to  control  the  management  of  this  journal, 
and  to  control  or  get  rid  of  the  mind  which  had  made  the 
periodical  what  it  was,  became  a  problem  on  which  many 
persons  meditated  seriously,  but  which  was  never  solved. 
The  details  of  this  undertaking  will  be  comprehended  in 
the  history  which  follows. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Ki)  I URING  the  years  that  the  Proclamation  and  Reformer 
jLJ  was  published  at  Hygeia,  Ohio,  it  contained  a  musical 
department  under  the  management  of  A.  D.  Fillmore, 
one  of  the  authors  of  the  "Christian  Psalmist,"  to  which 
reference  has  been  made.  This  department  consisted 
chiefly  of  piec.es  of  church  music,  composed  or  arranged 
by  Mr.  Fillmore,  and  printed  sometimes  in  Harrison's 
numeral  system  of  notation,  and  sometimes  in  round 
notes.  Mr.  Fillmore  resided  at  Hygeia  at  this  time,  and 
assisted  in  the  business  of  the  periodicals  published  by 
Burnet  and  Franklin.  For  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century 
he  was  a  very  prominent  character  among  the  disciples, 
going  far  and  near  to  give  lessons  in  sacred  music,  and 
publishing  tune  books  for  Church  and  Sunday-school.  We 
have  therefore  been  at  some  pains  to  gather  the  materials 
for  the  following  biographical  sketch  : 

Augustus  Damron  Fillmore  was  born  September  7th, 
1823,  near  Gallipolis,  Ohio.  While  he  was  yet  in  his 
youth,  his  father  moved  to  Fulton,  then  some  distance  from 
Cincinnati,  but  now  part  of  the  city.  At  a  meeting  held 
in  Fulton  in  1842,  in  the  old  m;\rket-house,  he  confessed 
the  Saviour  and  obeyed  the  Gospel.  His  parents  were 
Methodists  of  the  strictest  sect.  His  father  was  so  incensed 
that,  for  some  years  after  Augustus  was  immersed,  he 
would  not  speak  to  him.  But  he  entered  the  service  of 
Christ  in  "the  full  assurance  of  faith"  and  wavered  not 
on  account  of  the  paternal  disfavor. 

He  had  been  a  teacher  of  music  about  three  years  when 
he  obeyed  the  Gospel.     His  education,  though  not  classi- 


198  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

cal,  was  good  for  that  day.  His  tongue  was  "as  the  pen 
of  a  ready  writer,"  and  his  manner  exceedingly  winning; 
and  being  full  of  zeal  for  the  cause  in  which  he  had  enlisted 
with  all  his  heart,  he  soon  began  to  speak  in  the  church. 
He  constantly  grew  in  power  and  usefulness  until,  in  1851, 
his  ability  was  so  clearly  demonstrated  that  he  was  or- 
dained. He  never  "adopted  the  ministry  as  his  profession, " 
but,  through  the  good  providence  of  God,  was  led  into  the 
Work  and  became  "a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  nour- 
ished up  in  the  words  of  faith  and  of  good  doctrine."  He 
was  an  earnest,  sound,  and  solid  preacher,  turned  many 
to  righteousness,  and  instructed  the  saints  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord. 

But  the  beloved  Fillmore's  talent  lay  in  his  musical 
skill  and  ability.  He  was  "a  sweet  singer  in  Israel." 
Disease  fastened  itself  upon  him  when  he  was  only  ten 
years  of  age,  and  he  was  always  thereafter  a  sufferer. 
This  gave  to  his  countenance  an  expression  of  sadness. 
He  did  not  assert  himself  strongly,  unless  attacked  upon 
his  convictions,  and  then  there  were  none  stronger  than  he. 
In  a  quiet  and  unpretending  way,  he  followed  up  all  the 
general  convocations  of  the  Disciples,  ever  ready  for  what 
he  could  do,  but  never  thrusting  himself  forward.  The 
mistake  of  his  life  was  the  publication  of  too  many  books. 
Had  he  confined  his  labors  to  the  perfection  of  three  out 
of  the  dozen  he  issued,  and  then  been  blessed  with  the 
physical  ability  to  carry  out  the  grand  conceptions  of  his 
musical  genius,  his  would,  to-day,  without  doubt,  have 
been  the  music  of  the  whole  body  of  Disciples.  As  it  is, 
his  soul-stirring  melodies  are  favorites  in  hundreds  of 
congregations,  while  scores  of  music-teachers  minister 
instruction  in  "  the  divine  art,"  as  they  learned  it  from 
him. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  199 

Mr.  Fillmore  began  to  manifest  his  musical  talent  at  a 
very  early  period.  When  only  two  or  three  years  of  age, 
and  before  he  could  sing  any  words,  he  would  sit  on  his 
father's  knee  and  sing  the  soprano  of  several  simple  tunes 
while  his  father  sang  the  bass.  When  only  sixteen  years 
of  age,  he  had  so  far  advanced  that  he  began  to  teach 
music,  and  his  first  compositions  were  made  within  two 
or  three  years  afterward.  The  "  Song  of  Steam, "  and 
"  Song  of  the  Lightning,' '  were  great  favorites  for  a  long 
time,  and  are  still  sung  in  many  places.  The  "  Old 
Brown  Homestead,"  and  "  The  Wandering  Boy,"  were 
pieces  of  so  different  a  character,  both  in  the  composition 
and  the  power  of  voice  required  in  singing  them,  as  to 
demonstrate  the  wide  scope  of  his  genius  and  ability. 
The  first  two  mentioned  were  sung  with  fervor  and  appro- 
bation by  James  Challen  and  Silas  W.  Leonard.  These 
two  men  were  musical  preachers,  and  seniors  of  Mr. 
Fillmore,  and  by  their  approval  helped  to  bring  him  for- 
ward ;  and,  no  doubt  but  their  advice,  and  what  he  him- 
self saw  of  the  wants  of  the  Disciples,  turned  his  atten- 
tion at  an  early  day  to  sacred  music.  The  "  Christian 
Psalmist, "  published  by  Leoiiard  and  Fillmore,  appeared 
when  the  latter  was  only  twenty-four  years  of  age.  It  was 
greatly  revised  and  improved  in  subsequent  editions,  and 
probably  had  a  more  general  circulation  than  any  other  of 
his  publications,  although  its  merits  were  certainly  inferior 
to  the  "  Harp  of  Zion,"  and  the  "  Christian  Psaltery." 
The  ''Psalmist,"  however,  met  a  great  want,  and  appeared 
without  a  rival. 

Mr.  Fillmore  was  somewhat  embarrassed  in  the  effort 
to  produce  standard  works,  by  being  committed  to  a 
newer  system  of  musical  notation.  His  first  lessons  in 
music  were  taken  from  Kev.  Thomas  Harrison,  the  inven- 


200  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

tor  of  a  system  of  numeral  notation.  The  difficulty  of 
learning  the  round  notes  made  the  effort  at  something 
more  simple  quite  popular  for  a  time.  But  the  perfection 
of  the  round  note  system,  and  the  fact  that  the  world's 
music  is  mainly  written  therein,  wedded  musicians  to  it. 

The  first  edition  of  the  "  Christian  Psalmist"  was 
published  in  three  parts,  one  part  devoted  to  each  of 
three  systems  of  notation,  but  subsequently  all  in  the 
numeral  system.  His  next  work  was  for  the  use  of  singing- 
schools  and  clubs,  issued  in  1849,  and  in  Harrison's 
numeral  notation.  It  was  called  the  "  Universal  Mu- 
sician." While  in  the  office  of  Burnet  &  Franklin,  he 
published  a  periodical  entitled  The  Gem  and  Musician, 
devoted  chiefly  to  musical  literature.  Two  years  later, 
he  published  the  "  Temperance  Musician,"  a  book  which, 
as  its  name  indicates,  was  devoted  to  temperance  songs 
and  glees.  After  this  he  abandoned  the  numeral  system 
of  Mr.  Harrison  and  used  the  round  notes,  only  substi- 
tuting a  figure  for  the  round  spot  of  the  note,  and  enclos- 
ing the  figure  between  two  perpendicular  lines  to  represent 
the  half  and  whole  notes.  In  this  method  he  published 
"The  Nightingale,"  in  1857,  for  singing-schools,  "The 
Christian  Choralist,"  in  18G3,  and  "  The  Harp  of  Zion," 
in  1864,  books  of  church  music.  His  books  for  the 
Sunday-school  were  the  "  Polyphonic,"  in  1863,  and 
<<  The  Little  Minstrel"  and  "Violet,"  in  1867.  In  1865 
he  published  a  work  in  round  notes,  entitled  "  The 
Christian  Psaltery." 

In  1870,  he  was  residing  on  a  farm  fourteen  miles  east 
of  Cincinnati,  where,  on  the  5th  day  of  June,  he  closed 
his  labors  on  earth  and  went  over  the  river  to  join  with 
other  redeemed  spirits  in  songs  of  praise  'round  the  great 
white  throne. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  201 

Like  most  of  the  pioneers  whom  we  have  had  occasion 
to  mention  in  these  pages,  he  was  greatly  assisted  by  the 
noble  woman  whom  he  took  to  be  his  wife.  The  Morn- 
ing Watch  said  of  his  family  :  .'«  He  married  Miss  H.  M. 
Lockwood.  Sister  Fillmore  is  a  precious,  good  Christian, 
a  sweet  singer,  and  one  of  the  best  specimens  of  a  preach- 
er's wife  found  anywhere.  Their  seven  children  were  all 
alike — their  *  souls  full  of  music."'  The  eldest  is  fol- 
lowing well  in  the  footsteps  of  his  illustrious  father,  as  a 
preacher,  a  teacher  of  music,  and  publisher  of  music- 
books. 

As  early  r.s  1846,  Mr.  Franklin  published  the  opinion 
that  the  "  Foreknowledge  of  God,"  referred  to  in  the 
Scriptures,  was  not  simply  what  God  knew  before,  but 
rather  that  which  he  made  known  before  it  came  to  pass. 
He  held,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  "  Eternal  purpose  of 
God,"  was,  that  "  He  would  justify  the  heathen  through 
faith,"  and  not  that  he  had,  "  from  all  eternity,"  deter- 
mined to  save  some  persons  and  permit  others  to  perish 
without  the  opportunity  of  salvation — it  was  a*  purpose  in 
regard  to  a  plan  or  scheme,  rather  than  a  purpose  as  to 
individual  human  beings. 

Whenever  he  visited  a  community  in  which  there  were 
Regular  Baptists  or  Presbyterians,  he  would  preach  one 
or  two  discourses  on  this  subject.  His  popular  style  of 
address  brought  subjects,  which  had  before  been  very 
uninteresting  to  the  masses  of  the  people,  within  their 
range.  After  he  had  repeated  his  discourse  on  those  sub- 
jects until  it  had  been  thoroughly  well-matured,  the  Dis- 
ciples in  many  places  began  to  desire  to  have  it  in  a  more 
permanent  form.  On  delivering  it  at  Cincinnati,  four  of 
the  resident  preachers  presented,  in  writing,  a  formal 
request  for  its  publication.  Iu  accordance  with  this 
10 


202  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

request,  he  wrote  a  sermon,  entitled,  "  A  Sermon  on 
Predestination  and  the  Foreknowledge  of  God."  It  was 
stereotyped,  and  in  July,  1851,  offered  for  sale.  In  a 
very  short  time  it  was  circulated  and  read  wherever  there 
were  Disciples. 

Not  long  after  the  publication  of  this  discourse  it  was 
delivered  by  the  author  in  Carlisle,  Kentucky,  and  many 
of  the  printed  copies  put  into  circulation  in  the  commu- 
nity. James  Matthews,  the  Presbyterian  minister  at 
Carlisle,  first  replied  to  the  discourse  as  delivered,  and 
afterwards  reviewed  the  printed  sermon.  On  being  in- 
formed of  this  by  John  Rogers,  minister  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  at  Carlisle,  Mr.  Franklin  wrote  Mr.  Matthews  a 
letter  u  inviting  "  him  to  a  discussion  of  the  differences 
between  them.  This  opened  a  correspondence  which  was 
protracted  from  September  4th,  1851,  to  April  9th,  1852, 
and  filled  seventy  pages  of  the  debate  as  afterwards  pub- 
lished. It  was  a  considerable  debate  of  itself  and  grew 
very  tedious  to  the  readers  of  the  Christian  Age,  before 
whom  it  came  in  constantly-increasing  installments.  The 
propositions  when  finally  agreed  upon  were  as  follows,  the 
first  being  simply  a  synopsis  of  the  sermon  : 
"  Proposition  First. 
"In  Elder  Benjamin  Franklin's  Sermon  on  Predestina- 
tion and  the  Foreknowledge  of  God,  are  found, — 

"First.     Sundry  points  of  doctrine,  viz: 

"(A.)  When  God  speaks  of  knowing  certain  things,  it 
is  in  contra-distinction  from  things  which  he  does  not  ap- 
prove or  make  known  as  his. 

"(B.)  The  Foreknowledge  of  God  is  the  knowledge 
which  God  has  before  given  by  the. prophets  respecting 
Christ  and  his  sufferings. 

"(C.)     God's  elect  are  the  Apostles  and  Prophets, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  203 

(D.)  The  object  for  which  God's  elect  were  chosen 
was  to  make  known  the  Gospel. 

"Second.  Sundry  interpretations  of  Scripture.  And, 
"Third.  A  declaration  that  the  predestination  of  the 
extract  from  the  Confession  of  Faith,  given  on  page  4,  is 
not  the  predestination  of  the  Bible,  nor  anything  like  it. 
The  four  points  of  doctrine  are  in  opposition  to  sound  phi- 
lology, correct  philosophy,  and  the  Scriptures  of  truth  ; 
the  interpretations  of  Scripture  do  not  convey  the  true 
mind  of  the  Spirit ;  and  the  declaration  respecting  the 
doctrine  of  the  extract  is  not  true  in  fact.     Mr.  Matthews 

affirmed. 

"Proposition  Second. 

"The  doctrine  of  Predestination,  as  taught  in  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  defined 
in  chapter  third,  sections  three,  four  and  five,  is  unrea- 
sonable, un-scriptural,  and  in  opposition  to  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.     Mr.  Franklin  affirmed." 

The  debate  was  held  in  Carlisle,  commencing  May  26th, 
and  closing  June  1st,  1852.  The  propositions  having  been 
settle  !,  and  the  disputants  reined  down  to  something  defi- 
nite, the  disagreeableness  of  the  correspondence  was  for- 
gotten and  the  contest  passed  off  pleasantly.  Butler  K. 
Smith,  who  was  present,  wrote  an  account  of  it  in  the 
Christian  Record,  in  wThich  he  says : 

"The  discussion  was  presided  over  in  a  very  dignified 
and  impartial  manner  by  Ex-Governor  Metcalf,  Dr. 
McMillin,  and  Esquire  Sharpe,  all  of  Carlisle  and  vicinity, 
as  moderators.  It  was  opened  every  morning  by  prayer 
from  "some  one  of  the  preachers,  either  of  the  Presbyterian 
or  Christian  Church,  and  was  conducted  throughout  with 
the  strictest  propriety.' ' 

The  point  in  the  first  proposition,  that,  "the  elect  of 


204  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

God  are  the  apostles  and  prophets,"  was  one  that  Mr. 
Franklin  did  not  mean  to  affirm  without  some  modification, 
although  the  terms  of  his  proposition  apparently  exposed 
him  to  such  a  construction.  He  did  not  mean  to  deny  that 
Christians  are  sometimes  called  the  elect.  His  affirmation 
in  the  sermon,  from  which  the  proposition  was  condensed, 
was  made  with  especial  reference  to  the  election  and  pre- 
destination referred  to  in  the  text,  which  was  Ephesinns 
1 :  4-6.  The  following  paragraphs  from  the  sermon  illus- 
trate Mr.  Franklin's  views  and  the  manner  in  which  he 
treated  the  subject : 

"  We  shall  now  proceed  to  decide  two  important  ques- 
tions. 1st:  Who  are  God's  elect?  2d  :  What  were  they 
elected  for?  In  our  text,  it  is  clearly  stated  that  certain 
persons  were  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world.  These,  all  admit,  were  God's  elect.  The 
question  then,  is,  who  were  they?  They  are  not  named 
in  the  whole  connection,  but  are,  by  the  Apostle,  simply 
called  "us  "  and  "  we."  These  pronouns  occur  a  num- 
ber of  times  between  the  third  and  thirteenth  verses,  but 
the  difficulty  is  to  determine  who  is  meant  by  them.  Two 
positions  have  been  taken  in  relation  to  this  point,  and 
contended  for  with  much  confidence,  which  we  are  well 
satisfied  are  wrong.  These  positions  we  must  carefully 
notice  before  we  proceed  further.  One  of  these  is,  that 
the  persons  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  and  called  ''us"  and  "we,"  are  all  the  saints. 
The  other  position  is,  that  they  are  all  mankind.  Neither 
of  these  positions  is  correct,  as  can  be  easily  shown." 

He  then  proceeded  upon  the  evident  truth  that  the  an- 
tecedent of  a  pronoun  will  make  sense  if  inserted  in  the 
place  of  the  pronoun.  "  If,  when  the  Apostle  says, 
"  he  hath  chosen   us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  205 

world,'  he  meant  l  he  hath  chosen  all  the  saints  in  him 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world,'  it  will  make  sense  so 
to  read  the  passage.  If  he  meant  the  whole  world,  by  the 
words  us  and  we,  it  will  make  sense,  and  give  his  mean- 
ing, to  insert  the  words  all  the  world,  in  the  place  of  the 
words  us  and  we.  This  rule  is  universally  admitted." 
That  it  cannot  mean  all. mankind,  nor  even  all  the  saints, 
was  argued  from  the  contrast  in  the  expressions,  "we 
who  first  trusted  in  Christ,"  and  "in  whom  ye  also 
trusted."  Rejecting,  therefore,  these  positions  as  absurd 
he  concludes : 

"Can  the  Apostle  mean  the  Apostles  and  Prophets? 
Let  us  try  the  same  rule  again.  'In  whom,  also,  the 
Apostles  and  Prophets  have  obtained  an  inheritance, 
being  predestinated  according  to  the  purpose  of  him  who 
worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will ;  that 
the  Apostles  and  Prophets  should  be  to  the  praise  of  his 
glory  who  first  trusted  in  Christ ;  in  whom  ye  also  trusted, 
after  that  ye  heard  the  word  of  truth— the  Gospel  of  your 
salvation.'  There  was  some  propriety  in  speaking  of  the 
Apostles  and  Prophets  having  obtained  an  inheritance  in 
Paul's  day,  of  their  first  trusting  in  Christ,  and  the  Ephes- 
ians  also  as  well  as  the  Apostles  and  Prophets." 

The  argument  on  the  Foreknowledge  of  God  he  summed 
up  as  follows : 

"  It  is  clear,  that  it  will  not  do  to  say,  that  God  speaks 
of  his  Foreknowledge  in  contradistinction  from  what  he 
did  not  know  before.  All  knowledge  must  be  present 
with  the  Infinite  Being,  and  cannot  be  said  to  be  fore- 
knowledge or  after-knowledge,  as  in  reference  to  man. 
It  is  therefore  clear,  that  where  the  Scriptures  speak  of 
the  Foreknowledge  of  God,  they  do  not  simply  mean 
what  he  was  acquainted  with   before,  but  must  have  ref- 


206  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

erence  to  something  else.  Without  any  speculation, 
therefore,  we  will  appeal  directly  to  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony. 

"  Him  being  delivered  by  the  Determinate  Counsel  and 
Foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked 
hands  have  crucified  and  slain.'  (Actsii;  23).  In  this 
passage  we  have  two  of  the  strongest  expressions  of  this 
kind  found  in  the  whole  Bible,  viz  :  '  The  Determinate 
Counsel,'"  and  '  The  Foreknowledge  of  God.'  What  is 
the  import  of  these  terms?  The  following  passage  is  on 
the  same  subject,  and  is  a  full  and  complete  explanation 
of  the  one  just  quoted  :  «  But  these  things  which  God 
before  had  showed  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  Prophets, 
that  Christ  should  suffer,  he  hath  so  fulfilled.'  (Acts  iii ; 
18).  It  will  here  be  seen  that  what  is  called  *  The  De- 
terminate Counsel  and  Foreknowledge  of  God,  in  the 
second  chapter,  is  called,  '  those  things  that  God  had 
shown  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  Prophets,'  in  the 
third.  This  defines  the  Foreknowledge  of  God  to  be  the 
knowledge  which  God  has  before  given  by  the  Prophets, 
concerning  Christ  and  his  sufferings.  The  following,  it 
appears  to  us,  throws  some  further  light  on  the  subject  : 
'And  the  Scripture,  foreseeing  that  God  would  justify 
the  heathen  through  faith,  preached  before  the  Gospel 
unto  Abraham,  saying,  in  thee  shall  all  nations  be  blessed.' 
(Gal.  iii;  8).  Now,  the  same  that  is  meant  by  Fore- 
knowledge in  the  former  passage,  is  meant  by  foreseeing 
in  this  ;  the  amount  of  all  which  is,  that  God  showed 
before  in  the  Scriptures  that  he  would  send  Christ  into 
the  world,  that  he  should  suffer,  and  justify  the  heathen 
through  faith  ;  and  in  making  this  great  matter  known 
before,  he,  in  promise,  preached  the  Gospel  to  Abraham." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Spiritualism  took  its  rise  in 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  207 

the  "  Rochester  Kuockinsrs."  A  Miss  Fox  and  a  Mrs. 
Fish  claimed  to  be  mediums  of  communication  between 
living  people  and  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  At  first  they 
sat  at  a  table  with  their  hands  upon  it,  and  the  spirits 
communicated  by  distinct  thumps  or  knocks.  They 
would  answer  direct  questions  (so  the  mediums  said),  by 
one  or  two  raps  for  k'yes,"  or  »*  no,"  as  requested.  If 
longer  communications  were  desired,  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  were  named  in  succession,  the  "  spirit"  rapping 
when  the  required  letter  was  pronounced. 

The  first  discovery  was  soon  eclipsed  by  others  of  much 
more  importance.  The  spirits,  or  the  mediums,  or  both 
together,  shortly  discovered  some  process  or  power  which 
could  be  employed,  by  which  the  spirit  could  use  the  hand 
of  the  medium  and  write  the  communications.  Ere  long, 
the  superior  inventive  genius  of  these  spirits^ in  the  body 
or  out  of  the  body,  as  the  case  might  have  been)  con- 
trived how  to  dispossess  the  spirit  of  the  medium  so  far 
as  to  take  possession  of  his  tongue  and  talk  what  he  had 
to  say  And  finally,  the  credulous  have  been  astounded 
by  the  "  materialization  "  of  spirits,  until  a  cotemporary 
author  and  philosopher  of  considerable  note  has  been  per- 
suaded that,  with  the  assistance  of  a  young  lady  for  a 
medium,  he  could  feel  the  soft  pressure  of  the  spiritual 
hand  and  the  warm  spiritual  breath  !  Spiritual  seances 
are  now  so  common  that  they  attract  but  little  attention 
and — necromancers  are  as  numerous  as  they  were  in 
the  days  of  Moses  and  of  King  Saul. 

The  "Rochester  Knockings,"  or  "Spirit  Rappings,  ' 
created,  in  a  short  time,  considerable  excitement  through- 
out the  country,  and  were  everywhere  the  subject  of 
remark.  The  secular  as  well  as  the  religious  press,  regu- 
larly reported  the  proceedings  aud  added  every  variety  of 


208  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

comment,  Mr.  Franklin  at  once  took  a  position  which 
he  never  afterward  had  occasion  to  modify.  He  regarded 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  as  the  sole  revealer  of  the  spir- 
itual things  which  belong  to  man's  eternal  well-being,  and 
denounced  every  pretended  revelation  from  any  other 
source  as  a  sham  and  an  imposition.  He  at  once  insti- 
tuted a  comparison  between  the  pretended  communications 
by  the  "Rochester  Knockings,"  and  the  sublime  revela- 
tions in  the  Gospel.     He  said  : 

"  How  any  one  who  has  ever  given  the  least  degree  of 
attention  to  the  spiritual  communications  contained  in  the 
Bible,  and  the  evidences  attending  them,  could  give  the 
least  credit  to  the  <  mysterious  noises  '  in  question,  we  are 
unable  to  see.  These  noises,  or  knockings,  bear  not  the 
most  distant  resemblance  to  any  spiritual  communications 
ever  made,  so  far  as  disclosed  in  the  volume  of  God. 
*  *  *  No  doubt  knockings,  noises,  etc.,  have  been 
heard,  and  things  have  been  seen,  which  the  spectators 
could  not  account  for,  and  things  which  we  would  have 
been  just  as  unable  to  account  for,  as  any  who  were  pres- 
ent, and  yet  not  half  equal  to  the  works  of  the  magicians, 
which,  we  know,  were  all  deceptions.  But  what  evidence 
have  we  that  every  knocking  which  we  cannot  account 
for  is  a  spiritual  communication?  When  Moses  and 
Elias  held  converse  with  our  Savior  in  the  mountain  of 
transfiguration,  they  did  not  do  so  by  knocking,  jolting 
tables,  chairs,  etc.,  but  they  spoke  to  him.  The  Spirit  of 
God  has  always  spoken  to  man  when  he  made  communica- 
tions, and  confirmed  his  word  by  mighty  displays  of  super- 
natural power.  He  did  not  depend  upon  knockings  to 
make  his  communications  nor  to  confirm  them  when 
made." 

Mr.  Burnet,  a  year  later,  indulged  in  a  little  pleasantry 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  209 

over  what  he  evidently  thought  was  a  solution  of  the 
mysterious  rappings.  We  quote  enough  to  show  how, 
as  he  supposes,  a  complete  exposure  had  been  accom- 
plished : 

"  Dr.  Lee,  in  the  New  York  Tribune  of  the  25th  of 
February,  1851,  seems  to  have  caught  the  Fox  and  the 
Fish,  and  laid  the  spirits,  though  I  have  no  idea  that  he 
has  lassooed  ■  the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air.'  Suc- 
cess to  him.  The  heroines  of  "the  mysteries"  (?)  are 
Mrs.  Fish  and  Miss  Fox.  The  Doctor  having  obtained 
permission,  in  a  select  company,  and  on  a  challenge,  ad- 
justed the  limbs  of  the  ladies  and  subjected  them  to 
pressure  in  the  region  of  the  knees,  so  as  to  arrest  the 
action  of  certain  muscles  and  bones,  and  lo,  all  the 
*  mighty  spirits  of  the  vasty  deep '  being  invoked  were 
dumb  !  The  alphabet  could  not  rouse  them.  The  potent 
abracadabra — the  A,  B,  C — is  powerless  !  The  charm  of 
the  epigrammaton  has  perished  between  the  Doctor's 
hands.  It  is  squeezed  to  deat'i !  *  *  *  Many  per- 
sons, by  a  dislocation  of  the  fingers  or  toes,  have  the 
power  to  make  knockings  in  connection  with  a  sonorous 
body.  These  females,  by  an  unusual  relaxation  of  the 
knee  connections,  did  the  same,  when  their  feet  were 
upon  the  floor.  They  were  detected  by  placing  their  feet 
upon  a  cushion.  This  diminished  the  sound.  The  con- 
striction of  the  movable  parts  brought  it  to  an  end.  The 
whole  imposture,  which  added  to  the  demerit  of  a  cheat 
more  bungling  than  the  poorest  of  the  Egyptian  false 
miracles  wrought  by  Jannes  and  Jambres,  the  sin  of  pro- 
faning the  name  of  God  and  the  spiritual  condition  of  the 
dead,  never  could  commend  itself,  but  to  the  unsettled 
and  marvelous,  or  the  skeptical,  who  show  a  strange  pro- 
clivity towards  any  wonder,  however  absurd,  if  it  does 
not  claim  the  Bible  for  its  origin." 


210  THE    LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

This  doctrine  of  Spiritualism,  within  two  years  after  its 
appearance  in  Rochester,  entered  the  ranks  of  the  Disci- 
ples, where  it  created  no  small  stir,  and  finally  led  Mr. 
Franklin  to  write  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  upon  himself 
for  the  first  time,  but  unjustly,  the  charge  of  proscription. 

Jesse  B.  Ferguson  was  then  a  young  man  of  no  incon- 
siderable ability ;  and,  by  his  popular  manners  and  ora- 
torical powers,  had  won  himself  into  the  position  of  reg- 
ular preacher  in  the  Church  of  Christ*  at  Nashville, 
Tennessee.  His  popularity  raised  his  conceit  of  himself 
to  a  very  high  degree,  and  he  felt  impelled  to  become  the 
discoverer  of  some  new  doctrine  and  a  leader  in  its  ad- 
vocacy. Spiritualism  suggested  his  opportunity,  and  1 
Peter  iii :  19,  and  iv  :6,  were  his  texts.  His  doctrine  was 
that  the  Gospel  is  preached  to  the  dead,  and  that  spirits 
in  Hades  are  permitted  to  accept  the  Gospel  and  be  saved 
through  Christ.  It  was  virtually  Restorationism,  though 
presented  from  a  newer  stand-point.  From  this  inter- 
pretation of  the  Scripture  it  was  no  difficult  matter  to 
glide  into  Spiritualism.  And  when  Alexander  Campbell 
went  to  Nashville,  with  the  open  purpose  to  arrest  the 
heresy  which  Mr.  Ferguson  had  established  there,  the 
latter  pretended  to  have  a  communication  from  Dr.  Will- 
iam E.  Charming,  who,  on  earth,  had  been  a  distinguished 
Boston  preacher,  but  was  then  an  inhabitant  of  the 
seventh  sphere  in  Hades,  instructing  him  to  have  nothing 
to  do  with  Mr.  Campbell.  He  was  obedient  to  the  visio 
inferna,  and  thereby  escaped  the  damage  sure  to  follow  a 
personal  rencounter  with  Mr.  Campbell. 

But  there  was  another  force  which  Mr.  Ferguson  could 
not  elude.  The  periodical  press  was  at  work,  and  news- 
papers were  sent  into  every  community.  Among  these 
there  was  none  more  potent  than  Christian  Age.     Its  cir- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  211 

dilation  was  large  and  widely  extend.  Its  editor  had  be- 
come known  throughout  the  brotherhood,  and  he  was 
everywhere  respected.  The  leadership  of  Alexander 
Campbell,  as  far  as  the  Disciples  ever  acknowledged 
human  leadership,  was  unquestioned  ;  but  he  was  a  teacher 
of  teachers,  a  leader  of  leading  men,  through  whom  his 
mighty  influence  was  exerted,  and  he  was  now  growing 
old.  Benjamin  Franklin,  on  the  contrary,  was  a  man  of 
the  people.  He  spoke  and  wrote  in  the  language  of  the 
masses  of  the  people,  and  he  was  now  in  the  full  vigor 
of  his  manhood.  The  people  read  his  writings  and  hon- 
ored him  with  their  unbounded  confidence.  He  was  un- 
questionably, from  this  time  forward,  and  for  several 
years,  the  most  prominent  man  among  the  people  engaged 
in  the  work  of  restoring  primitive  Christianity. 

When,  therefore,  the  Christian  Age  called  Mr.  Fer- 
guson to  account  he  was  compelled  to  respond.  He  had 
been  for  some  time  editor  of  the  Christian  Magazine,  and 
was  inculcating  his  new  doctrines  through  that  medium, 
as  well  as  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Nashville  Church.  The 
State  organization  of  the  Disciples  in  Tennessee  had  de- 
pended upon  the  Magazine  as  their  organ.  The  voice  of 
the  Age,  united  to  that  of  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  Millenial 
Harbinger  awakened  both  the  Church  in  Nashville  and  the 
State  organization  to  a  realization  of  their  responsibility 
in  permitting  Mr.  Ferguson  to  go  on  in  such  positions  of 
public  trust.  Threatened  with  the  loss  of  his  positions,  he 
was  under  the  necessity  of  making  a  self-defence.  With 
this  defence  we  have  nothing  to  do  now,  especially,  except 
in  so  far  as  the  charge  of  proscription  is  concerned. 

It  had  been  intimated  to  Mr.  Ferguson  that  he  could 
entertain  these  views  as  his  private  opinions  and  that  none 
would  incline  to  disown  him  on  that  account.     To  this 


212  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

suggestion  he  responded  :  "While  I  have  never  confined 
my  ministry  to  any  single  dogma  or  idea,  my  views  of  the 
future  world  inspired  all  my  efforts,  and  had  much  to  do 
in  giving  me  whatever  of  honor  I  might  possess  under  God 
of  directing  the  minds  and  lives  of  men  religiously.  They 
have  been  avowed  on  all  occasions  that  demanded  an 
avowal.  They  are  known  to  all  who  have  any  direct  re- 
sponsibility for  my  fellowship  as  a  Christian  or  a  Christian 
minister  ;  and  it  is  known  to  all  such  that  I  must  either  be 
fellowshiped  with  them  or  disowned  by  them.,,  Thus 
he  formed  a  direct  and  final  issue  with  his  brethren,  and 
when  they  refused  to  recognize  one  who  preached  his  doc- 
trine as  "a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  nourished  up 
in  the  words  of  faith  and  of  good  doctrine"  and  he  saw 
that  their  repudiation  of  him  was  owing  to  influences  as 
far  away  as  Cincinnati  and  Bethany,  he  cried  out  that  he 
was  proscribed  by  "not  very  reputable  means,' '  and  com- 
plained of  "foreign  intermeddling  influences. "  This  was 
as  earty  as  January,  1853,  and  before  he  had  developed 
all  that  he  was  capable  of  doing  and  willing  to  do  in  the 
way  of  schism. 

Mr.  Franklin's  response  to  his  complaint  of  proscription 
and  tyranny  sets  forth  some  things  that  ought  to  have 
weight  with  all  men  in  forming  their  opinion  of  him  in 
this  regard.  He  has  probably  never  made  a  clearer  nor 
fuller  statement  of  all  that  pertains  to  the  influences  ex- 
erted by  men,  socially  and  ecclesiastically.     He  says  : 

"The  attempt  of  our  brother  is  at  fault  in  another  par- 
ticular. He  is  trying  all  the  time  to  work  himself  up  into 
the  belief  that  he  is  almost  a  martyr,  if  not  for  the  truth's 
sake,  for  the  sake  of  the  liberty  of  speech.  But  in  this  he 
must  fail.  He  has  been  heard,  read  after,  and  sympa- 
thized with,  by  those  who  hud  sympathy  with  his  doctrine, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  213 

all  over  the  land.  No  synod  has  been  emplo3red  against 
him.  No  ecclesiastical  authority  has  interposed.  No  at- 
tacks have  been  made  upon  his  character.  All  who  speak 
of  the  matter,  speak  of  it  as  a  matter  of  regret,  for  they 
love  him.  What  means  then,  have  been  employed  against 
him  ?  Written  arguments,  showing  that  his  interpretation 
was  incorrect.  This  was  done,  too,  after  inserting  his  in- 
terpretation in  his  own  words,  and  the  best  argument  he 
could  produce  in  favor  of  it.  Where  then  is  the  ground 
of  complaint?  He  is  certainly  too  much  of  a  man  to  make 
all  this  ado  because  his  arguments  have  been  replied  to. 
Does  he  complain  of  the  Bethany  power?  If  so,  what  shall 
be  done?  Is  it  best  to  circumscribe  this  power?  Shall 
we  pass  a  law,  or  put  forth  some  kind  of  an  edict,  prohib- 
iting Alexander  Campbell  from  reviewing  our  interpreta- 
tions of  Scripture,  alleging  that  his  power  in  that  direc- 
tion is  popish  and  tyrannical?  Is  it  true  liberty  of 
speech  to  allow  everybody  else  to  review  erroneous  inter- 
pretations, and  show  wherein  they  are  wrong,  but  to  de- 
prive Alexander  Campbell  of  this  liberty  ?  Or  is  it  the 
case,  that  wdien  a  man  gets  a  very  great  name  and  influ- 
ence, that  he  has  no  right  to  speak,  because  what  he  says 
will  be  regarded?  Surely  he  has  the  same  liberty  of 
speech  and  of  the  press  with  other  men. 

"But  after  he  and  Brother  Ferguson  say  all  they  have 
to  say  on  the  point  in  dispute,  every  man  has  a  right  to 
make  up  his  own  verdict  as  a  juror  in  the  case,  and  this 
right  the  brethren  will  not  relinquish.  WThere,  then,  is  a 
decision  to  come  from?  As  brother  Ferguson  has  taken 
the  Christian  Magazine  to  publish  upon  his  own  individ- 
ual responsibility,  perhaps  the  first  decision  of  importance 
will  come  from  the  subscribers.  If  they  are  satisfied  with 
his  course,  and  intend  to  sustain  him,  they  will  continue 


214  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

to  take  his  paper ;  if  not,  they  will  discontinue.  Another 
decision  must  come  from  the  Church  in  Nashville.  She 
cannot  avoid  it.  If  she  retains  him  as  her  pastor,  she 
justifies  brother  Ferguson,  and  decides  against  those  who 
oppose  him;  if  not,  she  decides  against  him. 

'  'Another  decision  will  come  from  the  brotherhood  and 
churches  at  large.  If  brother  Ferguson  claims  the  right 
to  write  and  preach  what  he  pleases,  regardless  of  all  the 
remonstrances  of  the  brethren,  they  will  most  certainly 
claim  the  right  to  decide  whether  they  can  fellowship  him 
or  not ;  and  if  any  one  church  claims  the  right  to  hold  him 
in  her  fellowship,  while  he  preaches  doctrine  subversive 
of  the  whole  Christian  argument,  other  churches  will  claim 
the  right  to  determine  whether  to  fellowship  that  church. " 

In  a  very  short  time  all  these  decisions  went  against 
Mr.  Ferguson.  The  members  and  the  Churches  of  Christ 
declined  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  him,  and  "he  went 
out  from  us  because  he  was  not  of  us."  Mr.  Graves,  the 
editor  of  the  Tennessee  Baptist,  published  in  Nashville,  at 
that  time,  gave  a  pretty  full  and  fair  account,  as  viewed 
from  his  standpoint,  of  the  Ferguson  defection.  The  next 
week  after  his  article  appeared  he  was  attacked  by  two 
persons,  one  a  member  of  Mr.  Ferguson's  church  and  the 
other  an  adviser,  with  a  club  and  a  pistol,  but  happily 
escaped  with  no  serious  injury.  Infidel  and  Universalist 
papers  had  vied  with  each  other  in  complimentary  notices 
of  the  apostle  of  the  new  doctrine,  calling  him  the  ''Young 
America  of  theology,"  and  delineating  the  "moral  ten- 
dency of  this  more  liberal  theology."  After  Mr.  Graves 
had  been  clubbed  and  shot  at,  the  editor  of  the  Age  said  : 

"  When  the  Star  in  the  West  shall  next  set  forth  the 
moral  tendency  of  this  more  liberal  theology,  taking  Mr. 
Ferguson  into  his  arms,  publishing  to  the  world  that  'he 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  215 

is  fully  with  us,'  he  may  here  find  an  illustration  practi- 
cally demonstrative.  He  can  also  see  the  morality  and 
honesty  developing  itself,  in  the  pamphlet  published,  con- 
taining the  correspondence  between  the  churches  in  Nash- 
ville and  New  Orleans,  and  the  'Rev.'  J.  B.  Ferguson,  with 
certain  parts  suppressed  for  certain  sections  of  country." 

The  charge  of  proscriptiveness  was  made  in  several 
instances  after  this,  but  in  all  cases  it  happened  that  his 
proscriptiveness  consisted  solely  in  the  fact  that  his  influ- 
ence was  more  potent  than  that  of  those  who  raised  the 
cry  against  him.  He  used  no  means,  for  he  possessed  no 
other  that  he  could  have  used,  but  his  own  personal  influ- 
ence, in  his  attacks  upon  men  and  measures,  and  he  made 
no  attacks  except  when  he  believed  that  the  actions  of  men 
or  their  measures  were  calculated  to  impede  the  progress 
of  the  truth.  In  that  case,  he  was  unsparing  of  either 
men  or  measures.  But  other  men  talked  and  wrote  with 
the  same  freedom  that  he  did,  and  he  gave  them  the  use 
of  his  columns  to  say  the  best  and  the  worst  things  they 
could  say  against  him.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  is 
not  strange  that,  in  the  end,  the  people  justified  him  in 
his  course. 

It  was  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  the  Christian 
Age  was  conducted  in  1852  by  Jethro  Jackson,  as  pub- 
lisher, and  B.  F.  Hall,  as  editor.  Mr.  Jackson  continued 
to  be  publisher  until  May,  1853,  when  the  paper  was 
turned  over  to  the  "American  Christian  Publication  So- 
ciety." Mr.  Hall  did  not  continue  to  edit  the  paper  quite 
one  year.  In  December  the  familiar  announcement  of 
"Benjamin  Franklin,  Editor,"  appeared  at  the  head  of 
the  editorial  page.  It  was  essentially  Mr.  Franklin's 
paper,  and  without  him  it  could  not  succeed.  He  had 
made  a  reputation  which  would  sustain  a  periodical  publi- 


216  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

cation  well,  and  which  was  as  necessary  to  its  moral  sup- 
port as  subscribers  were  to  its  financial  support.  In  the 
Methodist  Church  the  Advocates  are  all  under  the  owner- 
ship and  management  of  the  Conference.  The  editors  are 
employed  under  the  Conference,  and  work  according  to 
instruction.  They,  in  a  great  measure,  sink  their  indi- 
viduality in  a  denominational  enterprise.  But  Mr.  Franklin 
was  all  himself,  and  held  himself  responsible  only  to  his 
subscribers  and  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church.  His 
readers  wanted  the  paper  because  he  was  the  editor,  and 
not  because  it  was  a  denominational  organ.  Their  relation 
was  as  personal  as  that  of  a  preacher  and  his  regular  audi- 
ence. Indeed,  the  Disciples  have  never  been  brought  up 
to  the  idea  of  supporting  a  denominational  organ,  and 
when  called  upon  in  that  way  th<  y  refused  to  respond. 

After  the  Publication  Society  took  charge  of  the  paper, 
Mr.  Franklin  continued  to  be  the  editor  for  something 
more  than  a  year.  But  there  were  too  many  directors  to 
the  concern.  The  managers  lacked  unanimity  and  experi- 
ence, and  Mr.  Franklin  was  too  independent  for  the  sub- 
ordinate position  in  which  he  found  himself.  The  arrange- 
ment fell  through  in  1854,  Mr.  Franklin  surrendering  the 
editorial  pen  and  binding  himself  not  to  publish  any 
periodical  for  a  specified  time.  The  Christian  Age  main- 
tained a  languishing  existence  until  in  1858,  when  it  sur- 
rendered, body,  soul  and  spirit,  to  him  who  had  made  it 
what  it  was.  In  the  meantime,  Mr.  Franklin's  bond  having 
expired,  he  had  started  and  published  for  two  years  a 
monthly  periodical,  in  pamphlet  form,  entitled  the  Ameri- 
can Christian  Review. 

While  residing  at  Hygeia,  Mr.  Franklin  made  a  num- 
ber of  Evangelical  tours  in  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Kentucky. 
These  tours  usually  were  not  extended  through  a  greater 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  217 

period  than  two  or  three  weeks,  and  were  not  attended 
with  other  than  such  incidents  as  are  common  to  pro- 
tracted meetings.  He  had  not  yet  given  himself  to  the 
work  of  a  traveling  evangelist,  as  he  did  after  the  pub- 
lication of  the  American  Christian  Review  wis  commenced. 
He  was  engaged  regularly  between  the  church  on  Clinton 
street,  Cincinnati,  and  the  church  in  Covington,  Kentucky, 
from  1850  to  1855. 

On  stopping  the  Reformer  and  giving  up  his  interest 
in  the  Age  to  Mr.  Burnet,  he  removed  to  Cincinnati, 
taking  up  his  residence  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
city,  convenient  to  the  church  on  Clinton  street,  for 
which,  at  that  time,  he  was  laboring. 

This  church  grew  steadily,  but  not  remarkably,  under 
his  ministry.  He  was  out  of  his  place,  and  financial 
embarrassments  discouraged  him.  His  income  was  so 
small  that  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  he  could  sup- 
ply his  family  with  the  common  necessaries  of  life.  One 
morning  his  family  had  called  upon  him  for  some  money. 
He  had  only  one  dollar  in  his  pocket,  and  replied  that 
he  must  keep  that  for  a  contingency  in  his  own  engage- 
ments. After  breakfast  he  started  to  the  post-office, 
and  on  the  way  was  so  piteously  entreated  by  a  person 
who  begged  help  that  he  gave  away  his  only  dollar. 
Before  returning  to  his  family,  he  was  called  on  to  offi- 
ciate at  a  wedding,  and  did  so,  receiving  for  his  services 
a  fee  of  twenty  dollars.  With  a  lighter  heart  (a  result 
often  produced  in  this  mundane  sphere  by  greater  heavi- 
ness in  the  pocket)  he  started  home.  But  on  the  way 
he  was  arrested  by  a  man  who  had  observed  that  his  only 
suit  was  quite  thread-bare,  and  led  into  a  tailor-shop 
to  be  measured  for  a  full  outfit — the  gift  of  the  kind- 
hearted  brother  in  Christ  who  had  him  in  charge.     This 


218  THE    LIFE   AND    TIMES   OP 

done,  he  went  home  to  his  family  in  great  glee  and 
related  the  incidents  of  the  day,  which  he  looked  upon 
as  a  special  providence  of  God. 

The  combinations  of  circumstances  in  human  life  are 
often  very  remarkable.  Here,  was  a  man  whose  tongue 
and  pen  were  famed  far  and  near.  Thousands  of  people 
throughout  four  great  States  had  listened  with  rapt 
attention  while  he  spoke  the  "things  concerning  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ. "  Many 
thousands  more  throughout  the  United  States,  the  Do- 
minion of  Canada,  and  in  England,  had  looked  with 
pleasure  for  the  coming  of  the  periodicals  filled  with 
effusions  from  his  pen.  Yet,  owing  to  a  little  financial 
blundering,  often  one  of  the  distinctions  of  great  men,  he 
is  so  poor  that  the  paltry  sum  of  twenty  dollars  brings 
gladness  and  relief  to  his  needy  family,  as  did  the  fall  of 
manna  to  the  hungry  Israelites  in  the  wilderness.  But  he 
was  at  the  same  time  laying  up  abundant  treasures 
"where  moth  and  rust  do  not  corrupt,  and  where  thieves 
do  not  break  through  and  steal." 

His  family  was  just  at  this  time  the  heaviest  burden  it 
had  ever  been.  He  had  then  eight  children,  all  of  whom, 
except  the  eldest,  who  had  learned  the  printer's  trade, 
were  wholly  dependent  upon  him  for  their  support.  His 
wife  was  unhappy  to  live  in  the  city  and  be  in  such  strait- 
ened circumstances.  But  he  was  not  the  man  to  be  over- 
come by  misfortune  and  give  way  to  despondency.  He 
trusted  in  God,  and  went  on  with  his  work  through  every 
dark  day.  He  was  a  very  successful  evangelist,  and  knew 
that  after  a  good  meeting  the  members  of  the  church  were 
usually  quite  liberal.  His  necessities  often  led  him  to 
beg  off  from  his  regular  appointments  to  hold  protracted 
meetings. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  219 

Although  he  never  gave  way  under  the  pinchings  of 
poverty,  he  was  nevertheless  sensitive  on  the  subject,  and 
his  imagination  a  little  excitable  in  regard  to  the  de- 
meanor of  others  toward  him.  An  amusing  incident  in 
the  Clinton  Street  Church  gave  him  considerable  anxiety 
during  the  twenty-four  hours  that  he  remained  in  igno- 
rance of  the  cause  of  the  incident.  One  Sunday  morning 
two  of  the  members  of  the  church,  women  of  age  and  of 
veiy  grave  demeanor  on  all  ordinary  occasions,  in  the 
midst  of  his  discourse  fell  into  an  uncontrollable  excite- 
ment of  mirth.  They  laughed  incessantly  for  some  min- 
utes, and  did  not  recover  entirely  before  the  adjournment 
of  the  meeting.  Knowing  his  sensitiveness  to  any  con- 
fusion in  the  audience,  they  several  times  glanced  toward 
the  preacher,  half  in  fear  lest  he  might  call  general  atten- 
tion to  them.  Their  actions  were  misconstrued  by  him, 
and  he  began  to  imagine  that  there  must  be  something 
wrong  in  his  manner  or  in  his  personal  appearance.  He 
persevered  to  the  end  of  his  discourse,  finding  the  end 
rather  sooner  than  he  would  have  done  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  and  closed  quite  abruptly.  Next  day,  the 
affair  still  preying  upon  his  feelings,  he  called  on  one  of 
the  ladies  and  asked  her  to  tell  him  what  they  were  laugh- 
ing about.  It  was  Easter  Sunday.  One  of  the  sisters 
had  colored  some  eggs  on  Saturday,  and  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing had  slipped  them  into  her  pocket  to  deliver  to  some 
grand-children  whom  she  had  no  doubt  would  be  at  meet- 
ing. By  some  mishap  one  of  the  eggs  was  uncooked. 
While  listening  attentively  to  the  discourse,  she  had  oc- 
casion to  use  a  handkerchief,  and,  reaching  into  her 
pocket  for  it,  thrust  her  hand  into  the  uncooked  egg, 
which,  meantime  had  been  broken.  She  drew  out  her 
hand,    smeared  and  dripping  with  the    contents  of  the 


220  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN. 

broken  egg,  and  showed  it  to  her  companion.  The  result 
is  before  the  reader.  The  explanation  was  entirely  satis- 
factory to  their  anxious  minister. 

The  year  1852  was  the  last  in  which  he  ever  experienced 
the  pinchings  of  poverty,  although  he  never  reached  the 
affluence  which  many  have  supposed,  and  to  which  his  im- 
mense success  as  an  editor  and  publisher  entitled  him.  He 
was,  to  the  last,  comparatively  a  poor  man,  and  left  an 
estate  considerably  below  ten  thousand  dollars.  He 
never  lost  anything  by  speculation,  for  he  never  specu- 
lated. But,  trusting  that  other  persons  were  as  fair  and 
unselfish  as  himself,  he  made  unhappy  combinations,  such 
that  others  often  shared  and  sometimes  wholly  engrossed 
the  profits  of  his  labors.  His  services  were  in  demand 
again,  in  1853,  as  editor  of  the  Ohistian  Age.  This  in- 
creased his  income,  while  others  of  his  children  became 
partly  self-supporting  and  thus  lessened  his  expenses. 
His  salary  as  a  preacher  was  about  the  same  time  advanced 
two  hundred  dollars  per  annum.  From  that  time  forward 
his  family  had  all  the  necessaries  and  many  of  the  com- 
forts of  life,  and  began  to  be  upon  a  level  with  the  society 
in  which  they  were  compelled  to  move. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

IN  the  earlier  history  of  the  effort  to  restore*  primi- 
tive Christianity  to  the  world,  the  attention  of  the 
Disciples  was  given  principally  to  a  contest  with 
outside  parties.  The  great  controversy  was  on  denomi- 
national ism,  regeneration,  baptism  and  Universalism.  On 
these  subjects  the  Reformers  were  agreed  among  them- 
selves and  unitedly  opposed  the  religious  parties  around 
them. 

But  a  time  came  when  Disciples  were  not  of  one  mind. 
Several  que-tions  arose  on  which  they  disagreed  and 
argued — one  against  another.  Well  had  it  been  for  the 
great  work  which  God  had  committed  to  this  people,  had 
argument  been  heeded.     But  unfortunately  argument  was 


*  Objection  has  been  raised  by  mauy  thoughtful  persons  to  the  term 
"reformation  ,"  or  "current  reformation."  It  is  claimed  that  the  movement 
was  not  to  reform  existing  institutions,  but  to  restore  lost  ones.  If  it  be  ad- 
mitted that  Christianity  was  lost  to  the  world — that  there  was  no  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  and  no  acceptable  worship  of  God  when  the  Campbells  and 
Walter  Scott  began  their  distinctive  work,  the  objection  would  seem  to  be 
well  grounded.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  no  one  would  be  willing  to 
assume  so  much  as  this.  The  argument  which  would  support  this  assump- 
tion would  cut  off  all  the  worshippers  for  several  centuries  and  leave  the 
world  for  the  same  time  without  the  true  church.  It  seems  more  in  accord- 
ance with  the  facts  of  the  case,  to  assume,  on  the  one  hand,  that  there  are 
worshippers  whom  God  will  acept  and  approve,  and  who  constitute  the 
true  church,  but  that,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  among  these  worshippers, 
departures  from  the  ancient  order,  by  leaving  out  some  things  required  and 
by  introducing  things  not  required.  To  bring  in  again  whatever  has  been 
omitted,  is  "  restoration."  To  restore  what  has  been  lost,  and  strike  out 
what  has  been  added  in  the  worship  of  an  existing  church,  is  certainly  "  ref- 
ormation." Wherever  the  truth  may  lie,  the  distinction  is  a  finer  one  than 
the  masses  will  appreciate.  We  have,  therefore,  in  the  text  of  this  work 
used  the  terms  interchangeably,  and  think  we  shall  be  undej  stood  by  all  our 
readers. 


222  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

followed  by  contention,  and  contention  by  bitterness  and 
alienation.  It  is  greatly  to  be  feared  that  the  end  is  not 
near.     God  knoweth  ;  may  He  overrule  evil  for  good  ! 

We  now  come  to  the  place  where  it  devolves  upon  us 
to  give  the  history  of  the  subjects  discussed  by  the  Re- 
formers among  themselves.  We  regard  this  as  the  most 
difficult  and  delicate  part  of  the  work  we  have  under- 
taken;  because,  while  historical  accuracy  requires  a  full 
statement  of  both  sides,  individual  convictions  incline  us 
constantly  to  one  side,  in  the  endeavor  to  trace  the  his- 
tory of  one  of  the  most  prominent  participants.  And, 
furthermore,  the  controversy  still  rages,  and  the  minds  of 
many  are  so  blinded  by  prejudice  that  a  calm  and  dispas- 
sionate view  of  these  matters  is  next  to  impossible. 

These  subjects  of  discussion  may  be  included  under  the 
following  general  headings : 

1st.  Congregational  Independency. 

2d.  The  Relations  of  the  Ministry  to  the  Church. 

3d.  Expediency  in  the  Worship. 

These  general  headings  require  several  sub-divisions 
which  will  be  given  below. 

I.  Congregational  Independency. 
Thomas  Campbell  and  his  son,  Alexander  Campbell, began 
their  career  as  religious  teachers  in  the  old  Scotch  Seceder 
Church,  which  was  Calvinistic  in  doctrine  and  Presbyterian 
in  church  polity.  Soon  after  their  emigration  to  the  United 
States  they  became  convinced  that  infant  church  member- 
ship and  sprinkling  for  baptism  were  unauthorized  in  the 
word  of  God.  Acting  upon  this  conviction,  of  course 
soon  cut  them  loose  from  Presbyterianism.  They  were 
immersed  and  united  with  the  Regular  Baptists,  the 
church  in  which  they  took  membership  belonging  to  the 
Redstone  Association.     On  account  of  Alexander  Camp- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  223 

bell's  views  of  reformation,  a  coalition  against  him  was 
formed  in  the  Redstone  Association  in  1824.  Meantime 
he  and  a  number  of  others,  impatient  of  the  intolerance 
of  this  Association,  and  suspecting  that  an  effort  would  be 
made  to  expel  them,  hud  obtained  letters  from  the  Brush 
Run  Church  and  organized  the  Wellsburg  Church,  which 
sought  and  found  admission  into  Mahoning  Association. 
The  next  letter  from  the  Brush  Run  Church  to  Redstone 
Association  was  borne  by  a  committee  among  whom  the 
name  of  Alexander  Campbell  did  not  appear,  although  he 
attended  the  meeting  of  the  Association  as  a  spectator. 
The  circumstance  attracted  immediate  attention,  and  some 
time  had  been  occupied  with  the  question  of  accepting  the 
letter,  when  Mr.  Campbell  was  openly  asked  why  his 
name  did  not,  as  usual,  appear  as  one  of  the  messengers. 
He  arose  and  with  great  gravity  observed,  that  he  was 
not  a  member  of  the  Brush  Run  Church,  but  of  the  Wells- 
burg Church,  which  did  not  belong  to  that  Association. 
Their  look  of  blank  amazement  on  learning  how  they  had 
been  outwitted,  was  afterward  described  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell in  a  manner  that  showed  his  evident  satisfaction  with 
the  result. 

The  greater  liberality  of  the  Mahoning  Association  was 
shown  at  the  outset  by  the  admission  of  the  Wellsburg 
Church  on  a  statement  of  belief  written  by  Alexander 
Campbell,  which  concludes  with  the  following  sentences  : 

'-Our  views  of  the  Church  of  God  are  also  derived  from 
the  same  source,  and  from  it  we  are  taught  that  it  is  a 
society  of  those  who  have  believed  the  record  that  God 
gave  of  his  Son ;  that  this  record  is  their  bond  of  union  ; 
that  after  a  public  profession  of  this  faith,  and  immersion 
into  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  they 
are  to  be  received  and  acknowleded  as  brethren  for  whom 


224  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

Christ  died.  That  such  a  society  has  a  right  to  appoint 
its  own  bishops  and  deacons,  and  to  do  all  and  everything 
belonging  to  a  Church  of  Christ,  independent  of  any  au- 
thority under  Heaven."* 

The  Mahoning  Association  will  also  be  remembered  by 
our  readers  as  the  association  which  employed  Walter 
Scott  as  a  traveling  evangelist  (a  very  unusual  thing  for 
a  regular  Baptist  Church) ,  and  did  not  censure  him  when, 
afterward,  he  preached  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins.* 
And  as  still  further  showing  its  unexampled  freedom  from 
the  partisan  spirit  usually  incident  to  such  bodies,  and 
especially  in  these  days,  we  mention  the  fact  that  J.  Mer- 
rill, John  Secrist,  and  Joseph  Gaston,  three  ministers  of 
the  "  Christian  Connection"  who  were  present  at  the 
session  of  the  association  held  at  New  Lisbon,  in  1827, 
were,  by  resolution,  invited  to  seats  in  its  counsels. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  this  association  was  so 
liberal,  and  so  clear  of  any  acts  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny, 
there  grew  up,  within  ten  years  after  its  formation,  a  sen- 
timent of  opposition,  which,  in  1830,  dissolved  the  asso- 
ciation. The  opposition  was  not,  of  course,  on  account 
of  anything  it  had  done,  but  of  which  it  might  attempt  to 
do,  and  what  other  such  bodies  were  known  to  have  done. 
It  was  believed,  by  a  majority  of  the  Reformers,  that  any 
ecclesiastical  council,  of  whatever  form,  was  a  dangerous 
expedient.  John  Henry  made  the  motion  for  a  dissolu- 
tion. Walter  Scott  favored  it.  The  previous  question 
(a  motion  of  itself  always  indicating  an  excited  state  of 


*  "History  of  the  Disciples  in  the  Western  Reserve,"  p.  33.  The  last 
sentence  above  quoted  is  the  statement  of  a  radical  view  of  the  subject  we 
now  have  in  hand,  that  some  of  Mr.  Campbell's  cotemporaries  were  hardly 
prepared  to  accept,  but  to  which,  as  a  body,  the  Reformers  were  soon 
brought. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  225 

discussion)  was  moved,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to 
write  an  account  of  it,  Mahoning  Association  was  dis- 
solved forever. 

Alexander  Campbell  was  present,  and  deplored  the 
action  Avhich  he  was  powerless  to  pi  event.  The  icono- 
clasts thought  their  conclusions  followed,  by  regular  and 
natural  sequence,  from  the  principles  taught  by  Mr. 
Campbell  and  approved  by  themselves.  In  the  Millen- 
nial Harbinger,  for  1849,  p.  272,  Mr.  Campbell  wrote  as 
follows : 

"I  have  before  intimated  my  approval  of  the  Baptist 
Association  formulas,  pruned  of  certain  redundancies  and 
encroachments  upon  faith,  piety,  and  humanity.  I  was 
present  on  the  occasion  of  the  dissolution  of  the  ■  Maho- 
ning Baptist  Association"  in  1828,  on  the  Western 
Reserve,  State  of  Ohio.  With  the  exception  of  one  ob- 
solete preacher,  the  whole  association,  preachers  and 
people,  embraced  the  current  reformation.  I  confess  I 
was  alarmed  at  the  hasty  and  impassioned  manner  in 
which  the  association  was,  in  a  few  minutes,  dissolved.  I 
then,  and  since,  contemplated  that  scene  as  a  striking 
proof  of  the  power  of  enthusiasm  and  of  excitement,  and 
as  dangerous,  too,  even  in  the  ecclesiastical  as  well  as 
political  affairs.  Counsel  and  caution,  argument  and  re- 
monstrance, were  wholly  in  vain  in  such  a  crisis  of  affairs. 
It  would  have  been  an  imprudent  sacrifice  of  influence  to 
have  done  more  than  make  a  single  remonstrance.  But 
that  remonstrance  was  quashed  by  the  previous  question, 
and  the  Regular  Baptist  Mahoning  Association  died  of  a 
moral  apoplexy  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

"  Reformation  and  annihilation  are  not  with  me  now, 

as   formerly,  convertible  or  identical   terms.     We  want 

occasional,  if  not  stated,   deliberative  meetings   on  ques- 
11 


226  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

tions  of  expediency  in  adaptation  to  the  ever  changing 
fortune  and  character  of  society." 

Mr.  Hay  den*  calls  this  "a  turning  point  in  onr  histo- 
ry/' and  makes  a  comment  upon  it  which  sets  forth  so 
clearly  the  points  of  discussion  involved,  as  viewed  by 
one  who  favors  general  conventions  and  "  concert  of  ac- 
tion among  ns  for  evangelical  purposes,"  that  we  quote  it 
entire  : 

"1.  For  three  years  of  unparalleled  success  we  had 
organic  unity  of  the  churches,  and  harmony  of  action 
among  the  preachers.  At  New  Lisbon  one  evangelist 
was  sent  out ;  at  Warren,  two  ;  at  Sharon,  four ;  the  as- 
sociation in  this  acting  as  a  delegate  body  only  for  evan- 
gelic purposes. 

fi  2.  At  the  dissolution  of  the  association  the  system  of 
evangelization  under  the  auspices  and  direction  of  the 
brotherhood,  ceased  and  perished.  No  one  was  sent  out 
by  that  body,  as  it  ceased  to  be ;  nor  by  the  yearly  meet- 
ing, for  no  such  power  wis  then  assumed  by  the  *  yearly 
meeting,'  nor  has  been  since. 

"3.  Then  perished  the  principle  of  concert  of  action 
among  us  for  evangelical  purposes ;  and  it  lay  dormant 
for  }7ears. 

"4.  Therefore  we  have  been,  in -this  respect,  in  a  state 
of  apostacy  from  our  first  principles. 

"5.  Due  discrimination  was  not  made  between  the  evan- 
gelical, which  was  right,  useful,  and  not  liable  to  danger- 
ous results;  and  the  ecclesiastical,  against  which  the  op- 
position was  directed  ;  and  that  in  the  overturn  of  the  one, 


*A.  S.  nayden  is  the  author  of  the  excellent  "  History  of  the  Disciples  in 
the  Western  Reserve,"  above  quoted.  It  is  a  volume  of  considerable  merit, 
and  very  valuable  to  one  who  desires  to  be  well  informed  on  the  early  history 
of  our  effort  to  restore  the  "  ancient  order  "  in  the  churches. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  227 

which  was,  perhaps,  liable  to  objections,  the  other  was 
destroyed,  which  was  the  true  principle,  and  ought  to  have 
been  carefully  preserved,  guarded,  and  perhaps  improved. 

"6.  Efforts,  unavailing,  were  often  made  in  our  yearly 
meetings  afterwards,  to  revive  the  evangelical  feature  of 
the  lost  association  ;  pleaded  for  by  our  own  example  and 
history,  and  by  the  increasing  testimony  of  our  experience. 

"7.  Wise  men  saw  the  evil,  and  deplored  the  result  at 
the  time  and  afterwards;  as  Benajah  Austin,  William 
Hay  den,  whose  persistent  appeals  for  its  resuscitation 
provoked  many,  and  by  Mr.  Campbell." 

After  the  Association  had  been  dissolved,  Mr.  Campbell 
proposed  an  annual  meeting  for  preaching,  for  mutual  ed- 
ification, and  for  making  reports  of  the  progress  of  the 
Gospel  among  men.  A  meeting  of  this  kind,  having  no 
ecclesiastical  prerogative  or  authority  over  the  churches, 
Avas  not  displeasing  to  those  whose  votes  had  annihilated 
the  Association,  and  was  readily  agreed  to  by  all.  The  ap- 
pointment for  such  a  meeting  was  made  before  the  Disci- 
ples left  the  place.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  "yearly 
meetings"  in  Ohio,  across  the  lakes  in  Canada,  and  in 
some  other  parts  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Campbell  seems  lo  have  acknowledged  some  change 
in  his  views  on  this  subject.  In  the  extract  above  given 
from  the  Harbinger,  and  written  in  1849,  he  says  :  "Ref- 
ormation and  annihilation  are  not  with  me  now,  as  for- 
merly, convertible  terms.' '  He  also  declares  his  "approval 
of  the  Baptist  association  formulas,  pruned  of  certain  re- 
dundancies and  encroachments  upon  faith,  piety,  and  hu- 
manity. "  But,  accordingto  his  views  "formerly"  enter- 
tained and  most  emphatically  expressed,  such  a  "pruning" 
would  cut  those  formulas  all  away.  In  the  letter  written 
by  him  on  making   application  for  the  admission  of  the 


228  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

Wellsburg  Church  into  the  Mahoning  Association,  he  de- 
clares that  a  congregation  of  Disciples  is  a  society  which 
"has  a  right  to  appoint  its  own  bishops  and  deacons,  and 
to  do  all  and  everything  belonging  to  a  Church  of  Christ, 
independent  of  any  authority  under  heaven."  This  letter 
was  written  in  1824,  the  year  in  which  Mr.  Campbell  wrote 
his  "Essays  on  Ecclesiastical  Characters,  Councils,  Creeds, 
and  Sects."  In  the  third  of  these  essays,  published  in 
the  Christian  Baptist,  Vol.  I,  No.  12,  he  says  : 

"In  the  two  preceeding  essays  under  this  head,  we  par- 
tially adverted  to  the  causes  that  concurred  in  ushering 
into  existence  that  '  monstrum  horrendum  informe  in- 
gens  cui  lumen  ademption,' — that  'monster  horrific, 
shapeless,  huge,  whose  light  is  extinct,'  called  an  ecclesi- 
astical court.  By  an  ecclesiastical  court,  we  mean  those 
meetings  of  clergy,  either  stated  or  occasional,  for  the 
purpose  of  either  enacting  new  ecclesiastical  canons,  or 
of  executing  old  ones.  Whether  they  admit  into  their 
confederacy  a  lay  representation,  or  whether  they  appro- 
priate every  function  to  themselves,  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  laity,  is,  with  us,  no  conscientious  scruple.  Whether 
the  assembly  is  composed  of  none  but  priests  and  Levites, 
or  of  one-half,  one-third,  or  one-tenth  laymen,  it  is  alike 
anti-scriptural,  anti-christian,  and  dangerous  to  the  com- 
munity,  civil  and  religious.  Nor  does  it  materially  affect 
either  the  character  or  the  nature  of  such  a  combination, 
whether  it  be  called  presbyterian,  episcopal  or  congrega- 
tional. Whether  such  an  alliance  of  the  priests  and  the 
nobles  of  the  kirk  be  called  a  session,  a  presbytery,  a 
synod,  a  general  assembly,  a  convention,  a  conference,  an 
association,  or  annual  meeting,  its  tendency  and  results 
are  the  same.  Whenever  and  wherever  such  a  meeting 
either  legislates,  decrees,  rules,  directs  or  controls,  or 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  229 

assumes  the  character  of  a  representative  body  in  religious 
concerns,  it  essentially  becomes  'the  man  of  sin  and  the 
son  of  perdition.' 

"An  individual  church,  or  congregation  of  Christ's 
Disciples,  is  the  only  ecclesiastical  body  recognized  in  the 
New  Testament.  Such  a  society  is  *  the  highest  court  of 
Christ'   on  earth." 

After  such  an  expression  of  his  views  by  the  most 
prominent  leader  in  the  Reformation,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
in  less  than  half-a-dozen  years  the  Mahoning  Association 
should  have  been  dissolved,  and  that  another  score  of 
years  should  elapse  before  anything  bearing  the  least 
resemblance  to  it  could  be  inaugurated. 

The  Reformation  in  Kentucky  was  characterized  by  a 
similar  action.  Barton  W.  Stone  was  originally  a  Pres- 
byterian, and  had  been  ordained  by  the  Transylvania 
Presbytery.  His  principal  co-laborers  were  also  Presby- 
terians. Their  reformatory  movement,  and  especially 
their  attack  upon  human  creeds,  and  maintaining  that  the 
Bible  alone  was  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  soon 
awakened  opposition  among  their  brother  ministers.  The 
latter  attempted  constantly  to  restrain  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  great  revivals  that  everywhere  prevailed  after  that  at 
Caneridge.  But  the  zeal  of  the  Reformers,  and  of  the 
people  who  sympathized  with  them,  was  not  to  be  over- 
come in  that  way.  In  the  "  Biography  of  B.  W.  Stone, 
by  John  Rogers,"  (p.  42),  we  find  an  incident  related  by 
Mr.  Stone  himself  which  illustrates  the  state  of  the  Ken- 
tucky Reformation  in  its  early  stage  : 

"  Since  the  beginning  of  the  excitement,  I  had  been 
employed  day  and  night  in  preaching,  singing,  visiting 
and  praying  with  the  distressed,  till  my  lungs  failed  and 
became  inflamed,  attended  with  a  violent  cough  and  spit- 


230  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

ting  of  blood.  It  was  believed  to  be  a  dangerous  case, 
that  might  terminate  in  consumption.  My  strength  failed, 
and  I  felt  myself  fast  descending  to  the  tomb.  Viewing 
this  event  as  near,  and  that  I  should  soon  cease  from  my 
labors,  I  had  a  great  desire  to  attend  a  camp-meeting  at 
Paris,  a  few  miles  distant  from  Caneridge.  My  physician 
had  strictly  forbidden  me  to  preach  any  more  till  my 
disease  should  be  removed. 

"At  this  camp-meeting  the  multitudes  assembled  in  a 
shady  grove  near  Paris,  with  their  wagons  and  provisions. 
Here,  for  the  first  time,  a  Presbyterian  preacher  arose  and 
opposed  the  work  and  the  doctrine  by  which  the  work 
amongst  us  had  its  existence  and  life.  He  labored  hard 
to  Calvinize  the  people,  and  to  regulate  them  according 
to  his  standard  of  propriety.  He  wished  them  to  decamp 
at  night,  and  to  repair  to  the  town,  nearly  a  mile  off,  for 
worship,  in  a  house  that  could  not  contain  half  the  peo- 
ple. This  could  not  be  done  without  leaving  their  tents 
and  all  exposed.  The  consequence  was,  the  meeting  was 
divided,  and  the  work  greatly  impeded.  Infidels  and 
formalists  triumphed  at  this  supposed  victory,  and  extolled 
the  preacher  to  the  skies  ;  but  the  hearts  of  the  revivalists 
were  filled  with  sorrow.  Being  in  a  feeble  state,  I  went 
to  the  meeting  in  town.  A  preacher  was  put  forward 
who  had  always  been  hostile  to  the  work,  and  who  seldom 
mingled  with  us.  He  lengthily  addressed  the  people  in 
iceberg  style — its  influence  was  deathly.  I  felt  a  strong 
desire  to  pray  as  soon  as  he  should  close,  and  had  so  deter- 
mined in  my  own  mind.  He  at  length  closed,  and  I  arose 
and  said,  "  Let  ns  pray."  At  that  very  moment,  another 
preacher,  of  the  same  caste  with  the  former,  rose  in  the 
pulpit  to  preach  another  sermon.  1  proceeded  to  pray, 
feeling  a  tender  concern  for  the  salvation  of  my  fellow 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  231 

creatures,  and  expecting  shortly  to  appear  before  my 
Judge.  The  people  became  very  much  affected,  and  the 
house  was  filled  with  the  cries  of  distress.  Some  of  the 
preachers  jumped  out  of  a  window  back  of  the  pulpit, 
and  left  us.  Forgetting  my  weakness,  I  pushed  through 
the  crowd  from  one  to  another  in  distress,  pointed  them 
the  way  of  salvation,  and  administered  to  them  the  com- 
forts of  the  Gospel.  My  good  physician  was  there,  and 
coming  to  me  in  the  crowd,  found  me  literally  wet  with 
sweat.  He  hurried  me  to  his  house,  and  lectured  me 
severely  on  the  impropriety  of  my  conduct.  I  immedi- 
ately put  on  dry  clothes,  went  to  bed,  slept  comfortably, 
and  rose  next  morning,  relieved  from  the  disease  which 
had  baffled  medicine  and  threatened  my  life.  That  night's 
sweat  was  my  cure,  by  the  grace  of  God." 

The  opposition  to  the  revivals,  after  such  an  ignomini- 
ous failure  as  this,  determined  that  these  pestilent  fellows 
who  were  turning  the  world  upside  down  in  such  shame- 
ful disregard  of  the  staid  old  standards  of  the  church, 
must  come  before  the  synod  and  show  cause  why  they 
should  not  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  orthodox  inter- 
pretation of  the  Confession  of  Faith.  The  leaders  in  the 
Reformation  were  Richard  McNemar,  John  Thompson, 
John  Dunlavy,  Robert  Marshall  and  Barton  W.  Stone. 
The  Presbytery  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  of  which  Mr.  Mc- 
Nemar was  a  member,  charged  him  with  preaching  anti- 
Calvinistic  doctrines.  From  this  Presbytery  his  case  soon 
came  before  the  Synod  at  Lexington.  The  other  four 
ministers  watched  McNemar's  case  with  interest,  know- 
ing that  their  own  cases  depended  on  the  result  of  the 
action  on  his.  Indeed,  Mr.  Stone  says  "  it  was  plainly 
hinted  "  to  them  that  they  "  would  not  be  forgotten  by 
the  Synod, "    As  soon  as  they  saw  that  the  case  was  sure 


232  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES    OP 

to  be  decided  adverse  them,  the  five  withdrew  to  a  pri- 
vate garden,  prayed  for  Divine  guidance,  and  then  drew 
up  a  protest  against  the  proceedings  in  McNemar's  case, 
a  declaration  of  their  independence  and  of  their  with- 
drawal from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Synod,  but  not  from 
Presbyterian  communion.  The  protest  and  declaration 
were  immediately  presented  to  the  Synod.  A  committee 
was  sent  to  confer  with  them,  one  of  whom  was  so  shaken 
by  their  reasoning,  that  he  soon  after  united  with  them. 
The  committee  reported  their  failure,  and  the  Synod,  de- 
nying the  right  to  the  protestants  to  withdraw,  pro- 
ceeded to  expel  them,  and  declare  their  churches  without 
ministers. 

"  This  act  of  the  Synod,'*  says  Mr.  Stone,  "produced 
great  commotion  and  division  in  the  churches ;  not  only 
were  churches  divided,  but  families;  those  who  before 
had  lived  in  harmony  and  love,  were  now  set  in  hostile 
array  against  each  other.  What  scenes  of  confusion  and 
distress  !  not  produced  by  the  Bible,  but  by  human  au- 
thoritative creeds,  supported  by  sticklers  for  orthodoxy. 
My  heart  was  sickened,  and  effectually  turned  against 
such  creeds,  as  nuisances  of  religious  society,  and  the 
very  bane  of  Christian  unity." 

The  five  protesting  ministers,  now  separated  from  the 
Synod,  proceeded  to  form  a  new  Presbytery,  calling  it 
Springfield  Presbytery.  They  wrote  and  published  a 
book  entitled,  "  The  Apology  of  Springfield  Presbytery, " 
which  circulated  extensively  and  created  a  profound  sen- 
sation. But  the  new  Presbytery  had  scarcely  been  in  ex- 
istence a  year  until  its  members  *'  saw  it  savored  of  party 
spirit,  and  with  man-made  creeds,  threw  it  overboard, " 
At  a  regular  session  of  the  Presbytery,  the  members 
composing  it  prepared  a  facetious  document,  which  they 


ELDER   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  233 

called,  "The  Last  Will  and  Testament  of  the  Springfield 
Presbytery,"  and  with  which  the  Presbytery  closed  its 
labors  forever.  We  have  made  allusions  to  this  before, 
but  now  recall  and  insert  it  entire,  because  it  is  a  concise 
statement  of  their  views  on  the  subject  we  are  treating  of 
in  this  chapter,  and  shows  how  they  came  to  the  same 
conclusions  reached  by  the  members  of  Mahoning  Asso- 
ciation, as  above  set  forth: 

*«  THE  LAST  WILL  AND  TESTAMENT  OF   SPRINGFIELD  PRES- 
BYTERY. 

"  For  where  a  testament  is,  there  must  of  necessity  be 
the  death  of  the  testator  ;  for  a  testament  is  of  force  after 
men  are  dead,  otherwise  it  is  of  no  strength  at  all,  while 
the  testator  liveth.  Thou  fool,  that  which  thou  sowest  is 
not  quickened  except  it  die.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you,  except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground,  and  die, 
it  abideth  alone  ;  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much 
fruit.  Whose  voice  then  shook  the  earth  ;  but  now  he 
hath  promised,  saying,  yet  once  more  I  shake  not  the 
earth  only,  but  also  heaven.  And  this  word,  yet  once 
more,  signifies  the  removing  of  those  things  that  are 
shaken  as  of  things  that  are  made,  that  those  things  which 
cannot  be  shaken  may  remain. 

"  The  Presbytery  of  Springfield,  sitting  at  Cane- 
ridge,  in  the  county  of  Bourbon,  being,  through  a  gra- 
cious Providence,  in  more  than  ordinary  bodily  health, 
growing  in  strength  and  size  daily ;  and  in  perfect  sound- 
ness and  composure  of  mind ;  but  knowing  that  it  is 
appointed  for  all  delegated  bodies  once  to  die  ;  and  consid- 
ering that  the  life  of  every  such  body  is  very  uncertain, 
do  make,  and  ordain  this  our  last  Will  and  Testament,  in 
manner  and  form  following,  viz: 


234  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

"Imprimis. — We  will,  that  this  body  die,  be  dissolved, 
and  sink  into  union  with  the  Body  of  Christ  at  large ;  for 
there  is  but  one  body,  and  one  spirit,  even  as  we  are  called 
in  one  hope. 

1 '  Item. — We  will,  that  our  name  of  distinction,  with 
its  Reverend  title,  be  forgotten,  that  there  be  but  one 
Lord  over  God's  heritage,  and  his  name  one. 

"  Item. — We  will,  that  our  power  of  making  laws  for 
the  government  of  the  church,  and  executing  them  by 
delegated  authority,  forever  cease  ;  that  the  people  may 
have  free  course  to  the  Bible,  and  adopt  the  law  of  the 
spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus. 

"  Item. — We  will,  that  candidates  for  the  Gospel  minis- 
try, henceforth  study  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  fervent 
prayer,  and  obtain  license  from  God  to  preach  the  simple 
Gospel,  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  Heaven, 
without  any  mixture  of  philosophy,  vain  deceit,  traditions 
of  men,  or  the  rudiments  of  the  world.  And  let  none 
take  this  honor  to  himself,  but  lie  that  is  called  of  God,  as 
was  Aaron. 

"Item. — We  will,  that  the  Church  of  Christ  resume 
her  native  right  of  internal  government ;  try  her  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry,  as  to  their  soundness  in  the  faith, 
acquaintance  wilh  experimental  religion,  gravity  and  apt- 
ness to  teach  ;  and  admit  no  other  proof  of  their  authority 
but  Christ  speaking  in  them.  We  will,  that  the  Church 
of  Christ  look  up  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth 
laborers  into  his  harvest ;  and  that  she  resume  her  primi- 
tive right  to  try  those  who  say  they  are  Apostles  and  are 
not. 

"Item. — We  will,  that  each  particular  church,  as  a  body, 
actuated  by  the  same  spirit,  choose  her  own  preacher,  and 
support  him  by  a  free-will  offering,  without  a  written  call 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  235 

or  subscription  ;  admit  members  ;  remove  officers  ;  and 
never  henceforth  delegate  her  right  of  government  to  any 
man,  or  set  of  men,  whatever. 

"  Item. — We  will,  that  the  people  henceforth  take  the 
Bible  as  the  only  sure  guide  to  Heaven  ;  and  as  many  as 
are  offended  by  other  books  which  stand  in  competition 
with  it,  may  cast  them  into  the  fire  if  they  choose  ;  for  it 
is  better  to  enter  into  life  having  one  book,  than  having 
many  to  be  cast  into  hell. 

"  Item. — We  will,  that  preachers  and  people  cultivate 
a  spirit  of  mutual  forbearance ;  pray  more,  and  dispute 
less  ;  and,  while  they  behold  the  signs  of  the  times,  look 
up,  and  confident!}'  expect  that  redemption  draweth  nigh. 

"Item. — We  will,  that  our  weak  brethren  who  may 
have  been  wishing  to  make  the  Presbytery  of  Springfield 
their  king,  and  not  what  is  now  become  of  it,  betake 
themselves  to  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  follow  Jesus  for  the 
future. 

"  Item. — We  will,  that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  examine 
every  member  who  may  be  suspected  of  having  departed 
from  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  suspend  every  such 
suspected  heretic  immediately  ;  in  order  that  the  oppressed 
may  go  free,  and  taste  the  sweets  of  Gospel  Liberty. 

"  Item. — We  will,  that  J ,  the  author  of  two 

letters  lately  published  in  Lexington,  be  encouraged  in  his 
zeal  to  destroy  partyism.  We  will,  moreover,  that  our 
past  conduct  be  examined  into  by  all  who  may  have  cor- 
rect information  ;  but  let  foreigners  beware  of  speaking 
evil  of  things  which  they  know  not  of. 

"Item, — Finally*  we  will,  that  our  sister  bodies  read 
their  Bibles  carefully,  that  they  may  see  their  fate  there 
determined,  and  prepare  for  death  before  it  is  too  late. 

Springfield  Presbytery, 
June  28th,  1804, 


ry,  ) 


236  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

"  Witnesses. — Robert  Marshall,  John  Dunlavy,  Richard 
McNemar,  B.  W.  Stone,  John  Thompson,  David  Purvi- 
ance."* 

Following  their  humor  one  sentence  further,  the  "wit- 
nesses" began  their  "Address"  as  follows  : 

"  We,  the  above-named  witnesses  of  the  Last  Will  and 
Testament  of  the  Springfield  Presbytery,  knowing  that 
there  will  be  many  conjectures  respecting  the  causes  which 
have  occasioned  the  dissolution  of  that  body,  think  proper 
to  testify,  that  from  its  first  existence  it  was  knit  together 
in  love,  lived  in  peace  and  concord,  and  died  a  voluntary 
and  happy  death." 

A  careless  and  superficial  reader  might  see  nothing  in 
the  above  but  a  little  pleasantry  indulged  in  by  the  authors, 
but  a  little  study  of  their  language  will  discover  the  fact, 
that  this  document  is  a  logical  composition,  setting  forth 
the  distinctive  features  of  the  Reformatory  movement  in 
which  they  were  engaged  ;  and,  although  they  wrote  in 
such  a  humorous  manner,  they  were  deeply  sincere  in 
their  convictions.  Their  lightness  of  manner  was  adopted 
as  a  delicate  way  of  expressing  their  profound  contempt 
for  all  organizations  based  only  upon  human  authority. 
The  "  Will"  is  followed  by  a  statement  of  their  "  rea- 
sons for  dissolving  the  Presbytery,"  which  is  characterized 
by  a  dignity  and  terseness  that  will  compare  favorably 
with  Alexander  Campbell's  essay  on  "Ecclesiastical 
Couneils,"  above  referred  to.  Still,  speaking  of  them- 
selves in  the  third  person,  plural,  they  say : 

"  With  deep  concern  they  viewed  the  divisions  and 
party  spirit  among  professing  Christians,  principally  owins: 
to  the  adoption  of  human  creeds  and  forms  of  government. 


•Mr.  Purvianeo  was  not  one  of  the  number  who  separated  from  the  Synod, 
but  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  New  Presbytery  after  their  organization. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  237 

While  they  were  united  under  the  name  of  a  Presbytery, 
they  endeavored   to   cultivate  a  spirit  of  love  and  unity 
with  all  Christians,  but  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  sup- 
press the  idea  that  they,  themselves,  were  a  party  separate 
from   others.     This  difficulty  increased  in  proportion  to 
their  success  in  the  ministry.     Jealousies  were  excited  in 
the  minds  of  other  denominations,  and  a  temptation  was 
laid  before   those  who  were  connected  with  the  various 
parties,  to  view  them   in   the   same  light.     At  their  last 
meeting  they  undertook  to  prepare  for  the  press  a  piece 
entitled,  'Observations  on  Church  Government, '  in  which 
the  world  will   see  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  Christian 
church  government,  stripped   of   human  inventions  and 
lordly  traditions.    As  they  proceeded  in  the  investigation 
of  that  subject,  they  soon  found  that  there  was  neither 
precept  nor  example  in  the  New  Testament  for  such  con- 
federacies as  modern  Church  Sessions,  Presbyteries,  Sy- 
nods, General  Assemblies,  etc.     Hence  they  concluded, 
that  while  they  continued  in  the  connection  in  which  they 
then  stood,  they  were  off  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles 
and  Prophets,  of  which  Christ  himself  is  the  chief  corner 
stone.     However  just,  therefore,  their  views   of  church 
government  might  have  been,  they  would  have  gone  out 
under  the  name  and   sanction  of  a  self-constituted  body. 
Therefore,  from  a  principle  of  love  to  Christians  of  every 
name,  the  precious  cause  of  Jesus,  and  dying  sinners  who 
are  kept  from  the  Lord  by  the  existence  of  sects  and  par- 
ties in  the  church,  they  have  cheerfully  consented  to  retire 
from  the  din  and  fury  of  conflicting  parties — sink  out  of 
the  view  of   fleshly  minds,  and   die   the   death.     They 
believe  their  death  will  be  great  gain  to  the  world." 

The  reader  will  now  note  that  the   early  reformation, 
in  both  its  branches,  reached  the  same  conclusion,  although 


238  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

acting  wholly  independent  of  each  other,  and  almost  with- 
out knowledge  of  each  other.  In  Virginia  and  Ohio,  the 
view  expressed  by  Mr.  Campbell  prevailed,  to  the  disso- 
lution of  the  most  liberal  association  ever  known.  All 
agreed  with  him  that  "  an  individual  church  or  congrega- 
tion of  Christ's  disciples  is  the  only  ecclesiastical  body 
recognized  in  the  New  Testament."  In  Kentucky,  all 
acqueisced  in  the  "will"  of  the  Springfield  Presbytery 
that  "  the  Church  of  Christ  resume  her  native  right  of 
internal  government. "  Both  carried  their  views  into  ex- 
ecution by  dissolving  the  only  ecclesiasticisms  they  hadv 
aside  from  the  individual  congregation. 

Having  thus  come  to  the  same  conclusion,  they  soon 
demonstrated  the  practicability  of  their  views  in  an  unan- 
swerable manner.  Without  any  denominational  organiz- 
ations, without  any  general  convention,  and  without 
more  than  the  shadow  of  a  conference  in  the  informal 
meetings  held  at  Georgetown  and  Lexington,  the  con^re- 
gations  of  "  the  Disciples  of  Christ"  and  those  of  the 
"  Christian  Connection,"  came  together  in  worship.  There 
was  not  even  the  formality  of  a  vote  in  the  congregations 
on  the  question  of  union.  Where  there  were  two  con- 
gregations in  the  same  community,  they  simply  appointed 
to  meet  at  the  same  time  and  place,  and  thereafter  wor- 
shipped together. 

The  remnant  of  the  "Christian  Connection"  who  re- 
fused to  unite  with  the  "Disciples,"  at  a  later  period, 
consolidated  themselves  denominationally  by  a  system  of 
conferences. 

No  lamentation  was  ever  made  over  the  "  decease  "  of 
the  Springfield  Presbytery.  And,  although  it  was  as- 
serted of  the  dissolution  of  the  Mahoning  Association, 
that  "  wise  men  saw  the  evil,  and  deplored  the  result  at 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  239 

the  time  and  afterward,"  it  is  probable  that  these  "  wise 
men  "  were  very  few  in  numbers,  and  it  is  certain  that 
their  efforts  "to  revive  the  evangelic  feature  of  the  last 
association,"  in  yearly  meetings,  were  always  "  unavail- 
ing.' '  For  some  years  there  was  no  denominational  or- 
ganization whatever.  There  was  not  even  any  organiza- 
tion which  assumed  to  be  representative  of  "  our  broth- 
erhood "  at  large,  or  within  any  given  district.  "The 
principle  of  concert  of  action  for  evangelical  purposes  lay 
dormant  for  years." 

But  public  opinion  is  not  more  steadfast  in  religious, 
than  in  other  matters.  It  was  not  many  years  until 
thousands  of  new  members  had  come  into  the  churches 
who  knew  nothing  of  the  Mahoning  Association  and 
Springfield  Presbytery,  or  of  the  principle  involved  in 
their  dissolution.  These  had  none  of  the  fears  of  an  "  iron 
bedstead,"  which  characterized  the  older  Disciples.  They 
had  never  felt  the  power  of  an  ecclesiastical  despotism. 
Even  many  who  had  been  dealt  with  for  heresy,  came  to 
think  that  the  people  of  the  reformation  were  so  liberal 
and  so  free  that  none  among  them  would  ever  attempt  a 
centralization  of  power  for  any  evil  purpose. 

It  was  not  very  long  after  the  dissolution  of  Mahoning 
Association  that  "  Co-operation  Meetings"  began  to  be 
held.  These  meetings  were  held  on  different  plans. 
Sometimes  individuals  of  different  churches  united,  organ- 
ized with  president,  secretary  and  treasurer,  raised  means 
by  contributions,  and  employed  preachers  to  go  into 
destitute  places.  This  was  called  "  Individual  Co- 
operation." Sometimes  the  meeting  was  composed  of 
messengers  or  delegates  from  several  churches  who  met 
with  one  of  the  churches,  in  which  case  it  was  called, 
"  Co-operation  of  Churches."     The  question  whether  the 


240  THE   LIFE   AND   TrMES   OF 

delegates  or  messengers  should  meet  with  one  of  the 
churches,  or  organize  separately  as  an  independent  body, 
was  often  discussed,  but  without  any  definite  conclu- 
sions. 

But  whatever  form  the  co  operation  meeting  assumed, 
there  were  always  some  who  looked  upon  it  with  suspic- 
ion, and  spoke  of  '<  ecclesiastical  courts  "  and  "  golden 
calves,''  as  if  it  had  been  an  attempt  to  organize  some- 
thing like  the  conference  system  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church. 

At  first  these  co-operation  meetings  were  composed  of 
counties  or  of  the  churches  within  one  or  two  counties. 
Afterward  they  were  enlarged  to  "  District  Meetings,"  in- 
cluding several  counties,  and  often  corresponding  to  the 
Congressional  Districts.  In  1835  a  meeting:  for  the  entire 
State  of  Indiana  was  called  and  held  at  Indianapolis,  in 
June.  An  annual  meeting,  known  as  the  "  State  Meet- 
ing," was  held  thereafter  at  various  places,  but  more  fre- 
quently at  Indianapolis.  It  was  simply  a  mass-meeting 
of  such  brethren  as  chose  to  attend,  until  in  1852,  when  it 
was  resolved,  "that  the  State  Meetings  shall,  in  future, 
be  composed  of  messengers  sent  by  District  Meetings, 
County  Co-operation  Meetings,  or  by  individual  Christian 
churches."  At  the  same  time  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  prepare  an  address  to  the  churches,  to  advise  them  of 
the  changes  and  urge  the  appointment  of  delegates. 
The  address  shows  how  such  a  meeting  was  regarded 
by  the  Disciples  throughout  the  State.  The  committee 
said : 

"  It  has  been  supposed  by  the  brethren  in  some  parts 
of  the  State,  that  the  *  State  Meeting,  being  a  mass- 
meeting,  composed  of  a  few  congregations  in  and  around 
Indianapolis,  was  acting  without   authority,  and    inde- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  24 L 

pendent  of  the  churches  generally,  and  hence  they  never 
attended,  nor  took  any  interest,  in  these  meetings.  In 
other  localities,  the  State  Meetings  were  regarded  by 
many  as  dangerous  in  the  extreme.  It  was  feared,  that 
the  object  of  some  leading  spirits  in  the  State  Meeting, 
was  to  obtain  dominion  over  the  faithful  of  the  brother- 
hood, for  their  own  aggrandizement,  and  that  we  might 
expect  to  have  a  human  creed  gradually  foisted  upon  us, 
through  State-Meeting  influence.  In  a  word,  that  the 
State  Meeting  is  a  mighty  engine  of  power,  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  congregations.  And  hence  they  have 
never  attended,  and  all  the  interest  they  have  ever  taken 
in  these  meetings,  is  to  oppose  them,  and  watch  over  them 
for  some  evil  thing,  that  they  may  take  hold  of  to  warn 
the  churches  of  their  danger.  But  these  feelings  and  sur- 
mises  are  passing  away,  and  a  more  charitable  and  liberal 
spirit  now  pervades  the  brotherhood.  And  the  plan  now 
proposed  by  the  State  Meeting,  to  make  all  its  future 
meetings  to  consist  of  messengers  from  churches,  county 
and  district  co-operations,  will  remove  all  these  objections, 
and,  if  carried  out,  will  bring  these  State  Meetings 
directly  under  the  control  and  influence  of  the  churches. 
These  messengers,  when  they  meet,  will  claim  no  legisla- 
tive power,  will  not  attempt  to  interfere  with  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  churches,  or  in  any  way  to  interfere  with 
the  internal  affairs  of  any  church.  But  they  will  simply 
meet  as  the  messengers  of  the  churches,  bearing  to  the 
meeting  such  message  as  the  churches  may  intrust  them 
with,  for  the  joy  and  comfort  of  the  brotherhood,  and  to 
become  better  acquainted  with  each  other,  and  in  this  way 
bind  the  churches  more  closely  together  in  union  and  love, 
and  take  sweet  counsel  together,  in  reference  to  the  inter- 
ests  of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  its  advancement  among 

men." 


242  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

It  was  probably  owing  to  this  distrustful  feeling,  that 
the  State  Meeting  of  the  same  year  resolved,  "That 
these  State  Meetings  have  no  power  over  the  faith,  Chris- 
tian character,  or  the  discipline,  of  the  individual  congre- 
gations." 

These  co-operative  meetings  were  always  organized  as 
evangelizing  associations,  to  aid  weak  and  destitute 
churches,  and  preach  the  Gospel  in  new  fields.  But  the 
"  State  Meeting,"  at  the  session  above  referred  to,  t-  ok 
action  with  respect  to  a  "General  Book  Concern,"  a 
"Board  of  Education,"  and  to  the  organization  of 
Sunday-schools. 

In  1845,  the  first  action  was  taken  which  began  to  call 
attention  to  Cincinnati  as  a  denominational  headquarters. 
In  January  of  that  year,  "  after  mature  deliberation,  the 
four  churches  of  God  in  Cincinnati  known  commonly  as 
Disciples  of  Christ,  or  Christians,"  organized  "The 
American  Christian  Bible  Society,"  with  annual-member- 
ship, life-membership,  and  life-directorship.  The  object 
of  this  society  was  declared  to  be,  "  to  aid  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  without  note  or  comment, 
among  all  nations.  It  assumed,  at  the  outset,  to  be  a 
"parent  society,"  to  which  others' might  become  auxil- 
iary, by  "  agreeing  to  place  their  surplus  funds  in  the 
treasury  of  the  parent  society." 

Although  organized  by  only  the  four  churches  of  God 
in  Cincinnati,  it  was  expected  that  the  society  would  soon 
extend  throughout  the  country  and  grow  to  very  great 
proportions.  A  full  complement  of  officers  was  therefore 
chosen  at  the  organization.  D.  S.  Burnet,  of  Cincinnati, 
was  made  president.  The  following  nine  persons  were 
made  vice-presidents :  J'.  J.  Moss,  Cincinnati  ;  B.  G. 
Lawson,  M,  D.,  Cincinnati;  John  O'Kane,  Indiana  5  H, 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  243 

P.  Gatchell,  Iowa;  Waller  Scott,  Pittsburg;  John  T. 
Johnson,  Kentucky;  A.  Campbell,  Bethany  College: 
Ephraim  Smith,  Georgia;  and  E.  D.  Parmly,  M.  D., 
New  York  City.  James  Challen,.was  corresponding  sec- 
retary ;  George  R.  Hand,  recording  secretary  ;  and  Thurs- 
ton Crane,  treasurer;  all  of  Cincinnati. 

The  first  annual  report  of  this  society  stated  that  one 
thousand  and  forty-six  dollars  had  been  contributed,  of 
which  about  one-third  was  paid  out  for  Bibles  and  Testa- 
ments, one-third  paid  to  traveling  agents,  and  the  remain- 
der paid  for  printing  and  stationery,  or  remaining  in  the 
treasury. 

Soon  after  the  formation  of  the  Bible  Society,  a  "Sun- 
day-school and  Tract  Society"  was  organized  in  Cincin- 
nati. The  general  plan  of  organization  was  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Bible  Society,  and  the  leading  members  were, 
for  the  most  part,  the  same   persons.     In  the  autumn  of 

1851,  the  name  was  changed  to  "The  American  Christian 
Publication  Society."  From  this  time  its  managers  con- 
templated making  it  more  prominent  by  enlarging  the 
sphere  of  its  operations  as  much  as  indicated  by  the 
change  in  its  name.  The  next  year,  an  effort  was  made 
to  form  a  joint-stock-company  "Book  Concern,"  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Publication  Society,  the  history  of 
which  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows  ; 

The  second  annual  meeting  of  the  Sixth  Indiana  Dis- 
trict, held    in   Little   Flatrock,  Rush  County,  in  August, 

1852,  "heartily  approved"  of  a  "plan  to  establish  a 
Book  Concern  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  to  aid  in  the 
endowment  of  Bethany  College,  and  for  other  purposes. " 
The  plan  was  to  start  with  $40,000,  in  shares  of  $100 
each.  The  net  profits  were  to  be  divided  as  follows : 
One-fourth  to  Bethany  College,  one-fourth  to  the  Mis- 


244  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

sionary  and  Bible  societies,  and  one-half  added  to  the 
capital  stock.  The  plan  was  approved  by  the  State  Meet- 
ing in  Indianapolis,  October  6th,  and  by  the  "  Anniver- 
sary Meeting  "  in  Cincinnati,  later  in  the  same  month; 
except  that  the  Cincinnati  meeting  changed  the  manner  of 
dividing  the  net  profits.  The  effort  to  carry  the  plan  into 
execution  resulted  in  a  loss  of  several  thousand  dollars  to 
the  parties  who  took  stock.  Attention  then  turned  again 
to  the  Publication  Society,  which  was  so  arranged  as  to 
involve  but  little  risk  of  financial  loss.  The  Christian 
Age  and  Sunday -School  Journal  were  purchased  by  this 
society  and  controlled  by  it  for  about  two  years.  The 
periodicals  were  then  turned  over  to  individual  manage- 
ment, and  the  society,  during  the  remainder  of  its  exist- 
ence, published  no  periodical  literature,  and  was  only  a 
small  book-store. 

The  formation  of  a  Missionary  Society  was  contem- 
plated at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  Bible  Society, 
but  no  steps  were  taken  towards  its  organization.  The 
Bible  Society,  however,  seems  to  have  assumed  something 
of  the  prerogative  of  a  missionary  society  meanwhile.  In 
October,  1850,  Mr.  Burnet,  then  president  of  the  Bible 
Society,  said :  ''When  we  were  surveying  the  field  of 
labor  in  committee  of  the  Bible  Society  Board,  there  was 
some  talk  of  a  mission  to  California.  Then  we  had  no 
missionary  society,  but  we  sent  one  hundred  dollars'  worth 
of  Bibles  and  Testaments  to  the  land  of  gold.  Now,  we 
might  contemplate  the  possibility  of  sending  a  preacher 
to  California.'' 

The  Bible  and  Tract  societies  met  at  the  same  time  and 
place,  and  were  for  some  years  referred  to  as  "  The  Anni- 
versaries." In  1849,  a  large  concourse  of  people,  includ- 
ing many  prominent  preachers,  assembled  in  Cincinnati, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  245 

to  attend  the  "Anniversaries."  Great  enthusiasm  pre- 
vailed, and  by  the  unanimous  approval  of  all  present, 
"  The  American  Christian  Missionary  Society "  was 
organized. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  present,  and  afterward  wrote  a 
long  editorial  account  of  the  meetings  for  the  Western 
Reformer,  in  which  he  said : 

"  There  seemed  to  be  but  little  difference  of  opinion 
among  the  brethren  respecting  the  business  the  Conven- 
tion had  a  right  to  act  upon.  All  admitted  that  the  ques- 
tion touching  the  Bible  Society  was  one  that  demanded 
attention.  Accordingly,  that  question  was  called  up  and 
investigated  at  length,  with  great  kindness,  some  few 
being  rather  favorable  to  some  kind  of  a  connection  with 
the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  The  meeting 
finally  almost,  if  not  quite  unanimously,  resolved  to  sus- 
tain the  American  Christian  Bible  Society,  and  several 
thousand  dollars  were  contributed  to  its  support.  Our 
brethren  abroad  need  not  any  longer,  then,  consider  it  a 
question  whether  we  have  a  Bible  Society  through  which 
our  great  body  can  act,  in  sending  the  word  of  life  to  the 
destitute.  Such  an  institution  we  now  have,  on  as  good 
a  plan  as  any  in  the  world,  and  all  it  will  need  is  the  bless- 
ing of  Heaven  and  the  hearty  assistance  of  the  brother- 
hood. We  hope  in  God  the  brethren  will  remember  this 
institution  and  make  it,  as  it  was  designed  to  be,  a  blessing 
to  our  race. 

"  The  Christian  Tract  Society  also  received  the  hearty 
approbation  of  the  Convention,  and,  we  trust,  will  receive 
the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  brotherhood  generally  in 
time  to  come.  It  has  the  evidence,  already,  of  having 
done  much  good,  compared  with  the  amount  of  means 
expended  in  that  way.     This  is  one  of  the  best  methods 


246  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

of  diffusing  knowledge  among  prejudiced  persons  ever 
tried,  and  thousands  may  be  enlightened  in  that  way. 

"A  Home  Missionary  Society  was  constituted,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  send  the  Gospel  to  destitute  places 
in  our  own  country.  Large  amounts  were  contributed  to 
this  benevolent  object,  and  we  are  assured  that  many  in 
almost  every  direction  will  rejoice  that  an  arrangement  of 
this  kind  has  been  made,  for  all  who  desire  to  do  so,  to 
co-operate  in  sending  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed 
God  in  every  direction.  None  need  now  complain  that 
they  are  so  fevv  in  number  that  they  cannot  do  anything, 
for  every  dollar  contributed  to  this  institution  will  do 
something  in  spreading  the  knowledge  of  God  in  the 
earth. 

M  The  Sunday-school  Library  received  a  share  of  atten- 
tion from  the  Convention,  and  we  believe  something  of 
importance  will  be  done  in  that  matter,  though  we  cannot 
say  much  of  the  particulars. 

"We  trust  nothing  transpired  that  will  not  meet  the 
approbation  of  the  brethren  generally,  and  that  scarcely 
a  person  went  away  dissatisfied.  At  least,  we  hope  such 
was  the  case.  Of  one  thing  we  feel  certain,  viz  :  if  what 
was  done  should  not  please  any  one,  it  will  not  be  because 
an  effort  was  not  made,  by  all  who  took  an  active  part  in 
the  Convention,  to  do  what  was  right,  and  render  satis- 
faction to  all." 

A  Board  of  Managers,  with  almost  plenary  powers,  was 
constituted.  This  board,  very  soon  after  the  meeting 
which  gave  it  existence,  came  to  an  understanding  with  a 
missionary  organization  which  had  been  constituted  in  the 
State  of  Virginia,  and  by  their  united  action,  arranged  to 
send  James  T.  Barclay,  M.  D.,  and  family,  as  missiona- 
ries to  Jerusalem,    When  the  Missionary  Society  reached 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  247 

its  first  anniversary,  Mr.  Barclay*  and  family  were  well  on 
their  way  to  Jerusalem. 

This  event  created  a  profound  sensation.  The  feelings 
of  the  Disciples  throughout  the  country  were  well  ex- 
pressed by  Mr.  Mathes,  in  the  Christian  Record,  as 
follows  : 

'vYes,  brethern,  we  have  really  engaged  a  Missionary 
for  Jerusalem  and  the  Holy  Land  !  And  our  beloved 
brother,  James  T.  Barclay,  of  Virginia,  has  been  chosen 
the  first  Missionary.  What  a  thrilling  idea  !  The  Word 
sounded  out  from  Jerusalem,  and  the  Holy  Land  was  the 
scene  of  our  Lord's  labors  and  sufferings,  while  on  earth, 
and  of  course  the  theatre  of  his  mighty  works.  Here,  too, 
the  Apostles  preached,  labored,  and  suffered  in  the  cause 
of  Christ.  But  long  since,  the  true  light  of  the  pure 
Gospel  has  ceased  to  shine  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem and  the  Holy  Land.  How  noble  the  enterprise, 
then,  to  give  them  back  the  pure  word  of  life,  as  it  once 
went  out  from  Jerusalem.     How  exciting  it  will  be  to  the 


*The  title  of  "  Dr."  was  usually  prefixed  to  Mr.  Barclay's  name,  as  it  has 
been  also  to  numerous  other  prominent  Disciples  from  time  to  time,  in  our 
religious  literature.  The  usage  is  calculated  to  mislead  many  persons,  and 
ought  to  be  abandoned  or  modified.  There  is  reason  to  suspect  that  the 
ambiguity  of  this  title  is  a  secret  reason  with  many  persons  for  its  persistent 
application  to  the  *'M.  D's"  who  have  become  prominent  as  preachers.  The 
Disciples  have  no  ecclesiastical  titles,  although  some  of  them  indulge  in  the 
use  of  the  absurd  prefix  of  "  Elder,"  a  traditionary  usage  which  has  come  to 
us  from  the  Baptists.  In  religious  literature,  "  Dr."  is  understood  to  mean 
u  D.  D."  Mr.  Barclay  was  an  '•  M.  D."  before  he  became  widely  known  as 
a  preacher.  We  have  changed  the  form  of  the  title  in  the  text,  so  as  to 
represent  the  fact  in  the  case. 

We  may  not  find  a  more  suitable  connection  in  which  to  call  attention  to 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Franklin,  for  some  years  before  his  death,  discarded  the  title 
of  "  Elder,"  as  generally  inappropriate,  and  always  unmeaning  and  unscrip- 
tural.  His  course  in  this  respect  was  generally  approved  of  by  the  leading 
Disciples,  although  there  were  many  who  could  not  so  far  free  themselves 
from  the  power  of  custom  as  to  discontinue  the  use  of  this  unauthorized 
title. 


248  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP 

Missionary,  to  stand  where  Peter  and  the  rest  of  the 
Apostles  stood,  and  proclaim  the  same  Gospel  which  they 
preached  at  Pentecost." 

Fur  several  years  all  letters  from  Mr.  Barclay,  and  all 
items  of  news  from  "the  Jerusalem  mission,"  were  eagerly 
read  by  the  people.  The  hopeful  feeling,  amounting  to 
enthusiasm,  and  the  general  state  of  these  several  socie- 
ties at  the  time  of  the  convention  ill  1851,  are  well  set  forth 
in  the  following  editorial  notice  in  the  Proclamation  and 
Reformer,  from  the  pen  of  D.  S.  Burnet: 

"To  the  brethren  scattered  abroad,  greeting : — The  time 
draws  near  for  us  to  meet  in  convention  in  Cincinnati,  to 
advance  the  interests  of  our  common  faith,  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  officers  and  other  measures  necessary  to  the  effec- 
tive operation  of  our  Bible,  Missionary,  and  Tract  Socie- 
ties, for  another  year.  In  the  behalf  of  the  Bible  Society, 
and  by  the  appointment  of  the  last  and  a  very  full  meeting 
of  the  Board,  we  call  your  attention  to  this  subject.  The 
meeting  takes  place  at  Christian  Chapel,  at  7  p.  m.,  Oc- 
tober 20th;  the  Bible  Meeting  commences  at  10J  a.  m., 
Tuesday  the  21st ;  and  the  Missionary  Meeting  at  the  same 
hour  next  morning. 

"The  Bible  Society  is  employing  colporteurs  in  various 
parts  of  the  United  States,  to  visit  the  destitute,  for  the 
purpose  of  distributing  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  our 
English  and  German  Tracts.  These  colporteurs  are  in- 
terspersing their  labors  with  instructions  and  prayers,  as 
occasion  may  offer,  and  efforts  to  gather  children  into 
Sunday-schools,  as  well  as  to  induce  persons  of  all  ages 
to  attend  the  ministry  of  the  word. 

"The  Missionary  Society  has  established  a  mission  fam- 
ily of  six  persons  in  the  'Holy  City'  of  Jerusalem.  One 
of  that  family,  with  several  other  persons,  is  a  new  convert 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  249 

from  the  ranks  of  the  nations  whose  salvation  we  seek  in 
that  quarter,  and  as  a  first-fruits  of  Brother  Barclay's  la- 
bors, is  a  most  valuable  accession  to  the  little  band  labor- 
ing there,  and  an  omen  of  a  measure  of  success  which  we 
had  scarcely  hoped  for  previously.  Domestic  missions, 
including  some  destitute  cities,  have  been  commenced  with 
encouraging  success. 

"The  operations  of  the  Tract  Society,  though  useful  in 
furnishing  Sunday-schools  and  in  Tract  distribution,  have 
been  unhappily  limited  by  a  deficient  treasury." 

As  in  the  "Book  Concern,"  above  referred  to,  so  in  the 
organization  of  the  Missionary  Society,  Indiana  led  off  by 
organizing  the  "State  Meeting"  into  the  "Indiana  Chris- 
tian  Home  Missionary  Society,"  and  arranging  for  District 
and  County  auxiliary  societies.  This  action  was  taken 
only  two  weeks  before  the  General  Missionary  Society  at 
Cincinnati  was  constituted,  and  probably  in  anticipation 
of  the  latter  event,  as  a  very  large  number  of  leading  men 
were  concerned  in  both. 

Several  other  similar  State  organizations  were,  in  due 
course  of  time,  brought  into  existence  and  made  to  con- 
form to  the  general  plan. 

These  three  societies  continued  to  hold  their  anniversary 
meetings  on  three  successive  days  in  October,  until  the 
year  1856,  when  the  Bible  and  Publication  Societies  were 
dissolved,  and  their  interests  merged  into  the  American 
Christian  Missionary  Society,  to  which  the  attention  of  all 
was  thereafter  turned,  as  an  organization  amply  sufficient 
for  all  denominational  purposes. 

The  organization  of  the  American  Christian  Missionary 

Society,  with  auxiliary   State  societies  and  sub-auxiliary 

district  and  county  societies,    was  a  complete  system  of 

"organization, "  to  which  many  had  looked  forward,  and 

for  which  they  had  labored  many  years, 
12 


250  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Public  opinion,  which,  upon  the  death  of  the  Springfield 
Presbytery  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Mahoning  Associa- 
tion, had  swung  clear  of  every  form  and  vestige  of  eccle- 
siastical organization,  except  the  local  congregation,  was 
now  ready  to  be  led  into  denominational  consolidation, 
and  took  no  alarm  when  the  * 'Hymn-Book  Committee  " 
referred  to  "the  Christian  Brotherhood  at  large,  as  repre- 
sented in  the  American  Christian  Missionary  Society." 

But  this  proceeding  was  by  no  means  universally  ap- 
proved at  the  time,  and  much  less  so  ten  years  afterward. 
The  formation  of  such  a  system  of  societies,  and  some  of 
the  acts  of  the  General  Missionary  Society,  provoked  a 
very  extended  discussion,  which  wrearied  the  patience  of 
the  people.  Of  this  discussion  we  shall  give  a  brief  ac- 
count hereafter.  The  different  views  of  the  subject  are 
somewhat  difficult  to  classify.  But,  with  many  shades  of 
opinion,  the  main  question  running  through  the  entire  dis- 
cussion, was,  whether  Disciples  had  a  right  to  organize 
any  permanent  society  except  the  local  congregation. 
One  side  claimed  the  liberty  to  organize  in  any  form  which 
promised  the  best  results — that  it  was  purely  a  question 
of  expediency.  The  other  side,  urging  the  absence  of  any 
Scriptural  precept  or  example,  denied  that  the  Disciples 
were  at  liberty  to  organize  any  such  society.  They  gen- 
erally admitted  that  churches  might  co-operate  in  any  law- 
ful work  through  messengers  or  delegates  appointed-  to 
execute  the  wishes  of  the  ehurch  in  that  particular  work. 

The  mind  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  as  he  himself  very 
readily  and  publicly  admitted,  underwent  a  very  decided 
change  on  this  subject  during  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his 
life.  He  was  led,  as  he  declared,  to  a  re-consideration  of 
the  question  involved,  chiefly  by  the  assumption  of  powers 
by  the  Missionary  Society,  which  did  not  belong  to  it  as 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   ERANKLttf.  251 

such  a  society.  Had  the  American  Christian  Missionary 
Society  never  taken  any  action  but  such  as  pertained  di- 
rectly and  unquestionably  to  raising  means  to  send  preach- 
ers and  Bibles  into  destitute  places  at  home  and  abroad, 
it  probably  would  have  continued  long  in  the  successful 
career  which  marked  the  first  ten  years  of  its  existence. 

But  we  must  pause  here  to  give  some  account  of  other 
matters  on  which  the  Disciples  disagreed  among  them- 
selves. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
II.  The  Relations  of  the  Ministry  to  the  Church. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  subject  on  which  the  views  of 
the  Disciples  are  less  clearly  defined  than  on  that  of 
the  relations  of  the  ministry  to  the  church.  A  very 
large  number  of  them  do  not  incline  to  acknowledge  the 
ministers  as  a  separate  and  distinct  class.  There  has  been, 
from  the  begining  of  the  Reformation,  a  strong  tendency  to 
what  is,  in  theological  phraseology,  styled,  •*  lay  preach- 
ing." Probably  a  majority  of  those  known  as  preachers 
may  be  called  "  lay  preachers,"  because  they  have  never 
been  "  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry"  by  the 
ceremony  called  "  ordination."  In  the  churches,  gener- 
ally, a  man  who  is  known  as  a  successful  preacher,  is  ac- 
cepted without  ever  asking  whether  he  is  an  "  ordained 
minister."  The  ordained  ministers  themselves  partake  of 
the  general  feeling  of  indifference  in  regard  to  this  matter 
by  freely  co-operating  in  the  work  with  ministers  who 
not  only  have  never  been  ordained,  but  openly  question 
the  authority  for  any  such  ceremony,  excepting,  as  some 
do,  the  case  of  overseers  and  deacons.  Men  who  can 
command  a  hearing,  go  to  preaching  when  they  choose  to 
do  so,  preach  as  long  as  inclination  or  their  sense  of  duty 
impels  them,  and  cease  without  scruple  when  not  suffic- 
iently encouraged  in  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

The  Bethany  Reformers,  at  an  early  date,  were  very 
clear  in  their  views  as  to  the  officials  to  be  recognized,  and 
very  definite  in  the  terms  used  for  that  purpose.  All  un- 
derstood and  used  freely  the  terms,  "  overseers,"  "dea- 
cons "  and  "evangelists." 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  253 

"  Overseer,"  the  literal  translation  of  eniohonos^  was 
preferred,  because  the  word  "  bishop"  had  been  so  gen- 
erally mis-applied  in  the  Papal  and  Episcopal  Churches. 
"  Elder"  became  quite  current  with  the  people,  but  was  ob- 
jected to  by  critics  because  it  simply  signifies  an  "  older 
person,"  and  many  members  who  were  older  persons,  or 
seniors,  were  not  called  to. the  "  office  of  a  bishop."  The 
office  or  work  of  the  overseer  was  held  to  be  the  ruling 
and  teaching  of  the  congregation.  He  "  must  be  apt  to 
teach,"  and  must  "  rule  well  his  own  house  ;  "  for,  "  if 
a  man  know  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he 
take  care  of  the  church  of  God  ?  " 

The  "deacons"  were  to  take  charge  of  all  the  tem- 
poral affairs  of  the  church.  All  financial  matters,  pro- 
viding places  for  meeting,  fuel,  lights,  the  bread  and  wine 
for  the  communion,  the  care  of  the  poor,  etc.,  were  mat- 
ters coming  under  their  supervision.  And,  as  looking 
after  these  things  made  public  men  of  them,  it  was  held 
that  they  ought  to,  and  would  naturally,  "  purchase 
to  themselves  a  good  degree  and  great  boldness  in  the 
faith." 

The  word  "  evangelist "  was  taken  in  its  literal  import* 
the  "  bearer  of  good  tidings."  It  was  his  business  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  sinners.  This  might  be  done  in  a 
community  where  there  was  a  congregation  of  Disciples, 
or  elsewhere.  As  to  the  authority  which  sent  him  and 
the  authority  committed  to  him,  there  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  a  definate  understanding  after  the  dissolution 
of  Mahoning  Association.  Theoretically,  any  congrega- 
tion of  Disciples  might  call  an  evangelist  to  the  work,  and 
send  him  wherever  they  thought  there  was  an  open  field. 
Practically,  every  man  who  felt  a  desire  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  went  forth  with  the  tacit  approval  of  the  congre- 


254  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

gation  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  worked  where  he 
pleased.  He  preached  the  Gospel,  baptized  penitent 
believers,  constituted  churches,  and  took  the  temporary 
oversight  of  churches  destitute  of  officers. 

The  Kentucky  Reformers  do  not  appear  to  have  left 
any  record  upon  this  subject.  When  Barton  W.  Stone 
and  his  co-laborers  dissolved  the  Springfield  Presbytery, 
they  threw  away  the  ecclesiastical  system  of  the  Presby- 
terians,without  adopting  an}  thing  in  its  place.  The  "  Last 
Will  and  Testament  of  the  Springfield  Presbytery,"  rec- 
ognizes the  "  particular  church,"  and  "  her  preacher," 
but  makes  no  allusion  to  any  other  church  officer.  The 
"  Witnesses"  held  themselves  "  ready  to  help  churches 
ordain  elders  or  ministers." 

When  the  union  of  these  two  classes  of  reformers  took 
place,  the  people  of  the  "  Christian  Connection  "  gener- 
ally accepted  the  views  of  the  Bethany  Reformers,  above 
given,  except  that  there  was  among  them  a  prejudice 
against  promising  any  regular  salary  to  an  evangelist. 

We  have  already  characterized  the  Reformation  in  East- 
ern Indiana  as  somewhat  different  and  distinct  from  those 
originating  at  Bethany  and  Caneridge.  A  very  large  in- 
fusion of  the  Caneridge  element  brought  with  it  a  zeal 
which  was  not  always  according  to  knowledge.  The  im- 
mense proselyting  energy  brought  in  hundreds  who  were 
not  afterward  carefully  taught.  There  were  many  churchis 
with  no  overseers  who  could  teach  the  members,  and  the 
evangelists  pushed  on  the  work  of  converting  sinners. 
Churches  were  left  in  a  languishing  condition  until  such 
time  as  the  evangelist  could  return  and  renew  them  by  a 
"  revival  meeting."  The  signification  attached  to  the 
term  "  evangelist"  by  the  earlier  Disciples  was  soon  lost, 
and  the  more  general  and  indefinite  terms  "preacher"  and 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  255 

"minister"  came  into  use.  Gradually  the  churches 
came  to  lean  upon  the  evangelists,  or  "preachers,"  and 
the  oversight  was  committed  to  them.  "Elders'1  were 
generally  chosen  ;  but,  wanting  confidence  in  themselves, 
they  waited  for  the  coming  of  the  preacher  on  his  monthly 
visit,  who  was  expected  to  lead  the  way  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  oversight  of  the  churches. 

Men  sustaining  this  relation  to  the  churches  were,  by 
all  the  religious  parties  round  them,  and  also  by  the  world, 
called  "  pastors."  In  course  of  time  the  Disciples  began 
to  use  this  term,  and  especially  in  towns  or  cities  where 
preachers  were  employed  all  their  time.  As  soon  as  the 
term  "  pastor"  had  been  used  enough  to  attract  attention, 
it  was  called  in  question.  Thus  came  about  the  discus- 
sion in  regard  to  an  office  called  "  the  Pastorate." 

The  discussion  of  this  subject,  however,  has  not,  of 
itself,  awakened  any  bitterness.  In  many  instances  a 
preacher  has  virtually  superseded  the  "  eldership,"  and 
carried  everything  as  he  pleased  in  the  affairs  of  the 
church.  So  long  as  there  was  no  other  disturbing  ele- 
ment, peace  has  prevailed.  In  other  instances  the  preacher 
has  introduced  new  policies,  to  which  a  portion  of  the 
church  objected  as  "  innovation."  In  such  a  case,  his 
assuming  to  L~  "the  pastor,"  was  given  in  as  evidence 
that  he  was  a  "  progressionist." 

By  many  leading  men  the  public  minister  is  constantly 
referred  to  as  "the  pastor."  Some  justify  it  as  strictly 
correct  when  the  preacher  is  an  overseer  or  "elder"  in  the 
church.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  those  having  the  over- 
sight of  a  congregation  of  Christians  may  be  figuratively 
called  the  "pastors"  or  "shepherds,"  as  the  congregation 
is  sometimes  figuratively  called  "the  flock."  And  we  do 
not  find  that  any  one  has  ever  directly  plead  for  the  office 


25$  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

of  ' 'pastorate"  as  separate  and  distinct  from  the  bishopric. 
The  discussion  has  not,  therefore,  been  carried  on  within 
clearly  defined  limits,  and  may  be  regarded  more  as  a 
question  of  the  use  of  terms  than  as  a  difference  as  to  fact 
or  truth.  The  prevailing  custom  of  the  country  has  led  to 
the  introduction  and  use  of  the  terms  "pastor"  and  "pas- 
torate. "  By  one  party  the  terms  are  defended  on  the 
ground  that  their  use  does  no  violence,  while,  by  the  other 
party,  it  is  urged  that  the  language  and  usage  are  unscrip- 
tural  and  of  necessity  must  do  violence.  On  the  whole, 
the  difference  has  been  regarded  as  a  difference  of  opinion, 
and  has  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  ever  disturbed  the  fellow- 
ship of  a  congregation. 

Mr.  Franklin's  views  on  this  subject  were  clear  and  well- 
defined,  and  have  been  given  already  to  the  reader.  We 
need  not,  therefore,  detain  him  any  further  here. 

III.     Expediency  in  the  Worship. 

"All  things  are  lawful,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient," 
says  an  apostle.  How  many  things  are  included  in  the 
"all  things"  of  this  passage,  has  been  a  question  of  disa- 
greement among  the  Disciples  for  above  twenty  years  past. 
The  extension  of  the  principles  of  the  Reformation  built 
up  large  churches  and  included  a  full  measure  of  wealth 
and  social  position.  The  increase  of  wealth  among  a  peo- 
ple has  always  very  greatly  changed  their  manners  and 
habits.  The  people  who  lived  in  log  houses,  with  no  car- 
pets on  their  floors,  dressed  in  home-made  jeans,  "linsey- 
woolsey"  and  "tow-linen,"  and  rode  through  the  mud  to 
meeting,  two  on  one  horse,  or  walked,  had  meeting- 
houses corresponding  to  their  own  houses,  if  so  fortunate  as 
to  have  any  at  all.  Sometimes  the  houses  were  of  logs, 
with  no  floor  but  the  ground.     Seats  were  made  of  planks 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  257 

laid  upon  logs  or  blocks,  or  puncheons  made  stool-fashion, 
with  holes  bored  in  them  in  which  pegs  were  inserted. 
The  pulpit  consisted  of  two  posts  with  a  board  upon  their 
tops.  The  lights  were  tallow-candles,  and  often  not  more 
than  two  or  three  of  them  burnins:  at  once.* 

But  the  energies  of  the  people  developed  their  lands 
into  most  bountiful  productiveness,  towns  grew  up  every- 
where, conveniences  were  multiplied,  and  a  more  luxuri- 
ous mode  of  living  was  introduced.  Log  houses  gave  way 
to  neat  frame  and  brick  cottages.  Floors  were  carpeted 
and  parlors  furnished.  Horses  and  saddles,  buggies  and 
carriages,  were  possessed  by  most  families.  Schools,  lec- 
tures, concerts,  and  the  circulation  of  books,  increased 
and  developed  new  tastes  in  the  people. 

In  the  course  of  these  changes, — which  undoubtedly,  to 
some  undefined  extent,  may  be  called  progress, — the  people 
began  to  make  improvements  in  their  meeting-houses, 
"Our  church  edifices  ought  to  be  as  neat  and  inviting  as 
our  own  homes,"  was  the  unanswerable  argument  for  the 
improvement  of  church  architecture  and  furniture. 

The  changes  in  the  tastes  and  manners  of  the  people 
did  not  stop  at  the  building  and  furnishing  of  the  meeting- 
houses. In  the  days  of  log-cabins  and  clapboard-roofs 
and  puncheon-floors,  any  earnest  and  fervid  preacher,  who 
was  a  godly  man,  was  listened  to  with  patient  interest, 


*  The  period  when  such  a  state  of  things  prevailed  is  not  as  remote  as  many 
of  our  readers  may  suppose.  Tbe  writer  has  been  preachiug  not  quite  twenty- 
five  years,  but  he  has  quite  often  spoken  in  such  places,  except  that  he  does 
not  recall  a  floorless  house.  Until  since  the  introduction  of  coal-oil  lamps, 
(about twenty  years  ago),  it  was  no  uncommon  experience  to  preach  where 
there  were  two  candles  burning  in  a  dismal  way,  only  sufficient  "to  make  the 
darkness  visible,"  and  perhaps  significant  of  the  deficiency  of  spiritual  light 
radiated  from  the  youngster  who  stood  by  the  candles  and  shot  his  sentences 
over  their  flickering  tops  into  the  darkness  beyond.  In  those  days  the  time 
for  night  meetings  was  announced  as  "'early  eaudle-ligiuing." 


258  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

regardless  of  ungrammatical  language  and  uncouth  ges- 
tures. But  the  refinements  of  social  life,  and  the  culture 
coining  from  schools,  lectures,  concerts  and  general  read- 
ing, made  awkward  pulpit  manners  intolerable.  The 
people  began  to  demand  a  cultivated  ministry,  and  to 
despise  the  unstudied  efforts  of  their  *'  elders."  This 
was  no  inconsiderable  influence  in  the  change  from 
"  overseers  and  evangelists,"  to  ''pastors,"  elsewhere 
described. 

During  this  period  of  transformation,  there  was  a  com- 
plete revolution  in  another  respect,  which  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  a  disagreement  among  the  Disciples  that  is  pro- 
bably the  most  irreconcilable  of  any  that  has  yet  arisen. 
The  improvement  in  the  general  intelligence,  of  course, 
awakened  a  more  general  interest  in  music.  One  of  the 
first  things  that  attracted  attention,  when  good  music  was 
brought  within  the  knowledge  and  reach  of  the  people, 
was  the  great  defect  of  the  singing  in  the  churches.  An 
effort  at  improvement,  heretofore  described,  was  made 
and  sanctioned  by  everybody.  But  soon  the  invention  of 
the  cabinet  organ,  a  cheap,  yet  almost  perfect  musical 
instrument,  and  its  introduction  into  almost  every  family 
in  the  land,  resulted  in  the  rearing  of  a  generation  who 
are  unaccustomed  to  sing  without  an  instrumental  accom- 
paniment. These  young  people  soon  began  to  clamor  for 
the  privilege  of  taking  their  instruments  with  them  into 
the  Sunday-school  and  the  church. 

These  changes  raised  in  the  churches  three  questions 
about  ' '  Expediency  and  Progress  : 

1st.  All  agreed  that  a  certain  degree  of  improvement 
in  the  building  and  furnishing  of  meeting-houses  was 
right  or  M  expedient."  But  the  question  was,  how  far 
may  churches  go  in  this  matter  without  becoming  extrava- 


ELDEU    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  259 

gant?  How  shall  we  distinguish  that  which  is  done  for 
comfort,  convenience,  and  in  good  taste,  from  that  which 
is  done  to  cater  to  "  the  pride  of  life?"  No  one  has  ever 
been  able  to  fix  any  standard  opon  this  subject.  "  Com- 
fort," "  convenience,"  and  "  good  taste,"  are  relative  and 
shifting  terms,  like  "orthodox"  and  "evangelical." 
The  editor  of  the  American  Christian  Review  cried  out 
at  the  extravagance  of  the  Central  Christian  Church  in 
Cincinnati,  which  cost  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  so  as  to  bring  down  upon  it  the  condemnation  of 
thousands  of  people.  He  was  worshipping  at  the  time, 
when  at  home,  in  a  neat  little  brick  house,  costing,  with 
its  furniture  and  appointments,  about  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  feeling  quite  at  home  in  it.  But  a  preaching 
brother,  coming  in  one  night  from  the  country,  looked  at 
the  carpeted  floor,  the  carvings  at  the  ends  of  the  benches, 
the  upholstering  of  the  pulpit,  all  illuminated  with  a 
splendid  gas-light,  and  then,  with  a  doubtful  shake  of  the 
head,  remarked  :  "  This  is  too  fine  for  me.  I  don't  feel 
at  home  here." 

Although  it  is  impossible  to  fix  upon  any  limit  to  expen- 
ditures made  in  the  name  of  necessary  improvements,  yet 
it  is  generally  conceded  that  there  is  such  a  limit.  It  is 
not  easy  to  define  the  point  at  which  firmness  changes  to 
stubbornness.  But  the  two  are  usually  very  clearly  dis- 
tinguished. As  long  as  a  man,  under  temptation,  adheres 
to  what  the  people  believe  to  be  right,  he  is  called  firm  ; 
but  when  they  think  he  is  in  the  wrong,  he  is  called  stub- 
born. In  like  manner  the  standard  of  comparison  by 
which  a  man  distinguishes  what  is  really  necessary  from 
that  which  is  for  mere  show,  is  very  likely  to  be  his  own 
notion.  And  the  notions  of  people  are  usually  formed 
by  their  surroundings.     Those  who    have    always    beeu 


260  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF 

accustomed  to  a  meeting-house  built  at  the  least  possible 
expense,  are  apt  to  take  alarm  at  the  slightest  possible 
display  in  architectural  finish  or  church  furnishing.  A 
carpet,  cushioned  chairs  or  sofas  in  the  pulpit,  a  baptis- 
tery, and  many  other  such  things,  have  often  been  accepted 
as  decided  evidences  of  a  worldly  mind  or  of  ungodliness. 

It  is  beyond  question  that  many  people  wjo  profess  to 
follow  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus  of  Nazareth  who  became 
the  M  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,"  who 
was  accused  of  being  "  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sin- 
ners," and  who  could  be  approached  with  confidence  by 
the  lowliest  people  in  Judah,  build  and  furnish  their  meet- 
ing houses  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  be  forbidden 
ground  to  poor  people. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  man  of  the  people,  and  any- 
thing in  the  manners  or  habits  of  the  people  compris- 
ing the  membership  of  the  churches  that  savored  of 
exclusiveness,  met  his  unhesitating  and  unqualified  con- 
demnation. His  tongue  and  his  pen  were  fluent  and 
untiring  in  the  effort  to  restrain  any  tendency  to  mere 
display  of  finery.  He  took  no  especial  interest  in  fine 
church  edifices  and  their  furniture,  yet  made  no  war  upon 
them,  unless  he  saw  them  coupled  with  a  worldly  pride 
which  courted  the  rich  and  frowned  upon  the  poor.  He 
was  indifferent  to  mere  formalities  in  social  life,  and  in 
religion  regarded  them  as  certain  evidence  of  a  worldly 
mind  and  a  time-serving  spirit. 

2d.  How  far  is  it  right  to  consider  the  public  sentiment 
and  feeling  as  to  pulpit  decorum?  Shall  the  ministry  be 
just  what  public  opinion  demands  it  to  be?  Stated  in 
this  form,  there  are  none  to  affirm.  Yet,  there  are  those 
among  the  Disciples  who  are  offended  seriously  if  the 
maimers  of  their  ministers  are  not  i4  up  to  the  spirit  of  ihe 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  261 

times.' '  Denominationalism  has  established  certain  usages 
indicative  (or  at  least  in  the  public  mind  supposed  to  be 
indicative)  of  a  fraternal  feeling  between  the  members  of 
different  churches.  These  usages  demand  that  denomina- 
tional feelings  and  convictions  be  laid  aside  in  social  life 
and  often  in  public  worship.  The  minister  must  preach  a 
broad,  catholic  Christianity  that  will  be  offensive  to  nobody 
— that  will  know  no  denominational  boundaries.  Inter- 
change of  pulpits,  communions  of  sects,  ministerial  con- 
vocations, etc.,  are  involved  in  this  discussion. 

Here,  again,  the  difference  is  not  clearly  defined.  It 
will  not  do  to  say  that  any  were  opposed  to  culture  and 
refinement  in  ministers — that,  other  things  being  equal, 
they  preferred  a  minister  of  awkward  gestures  and  un- 
grammatical  sentences ;  nor,  can  it  be  said  on  the  other 
hand,  that  others  are  ready  to  sacrifice  the  truth  for  the 
sake  of  literary  culture.  Yet,  such  accusations  and 
counter-accusations  were  often  brought  by  the  contending 
parties;  and  sometimes,  in  the  heat  of  excited  criticisms, 
parties  implied  such  views.  The  discussion  of  this  sub- 
ject was,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  form  of  criticisms  upon 
the  "clerical  manners "  of  some  ministers,  and  their 
defence  by  the  personal  friends  of  those  ministers.  It 
did  not  become  the  occasion  of  any  general  strife  among 
the  Disciples,  but  often  affected  them  badly.  An  earnest 
and  intelligent  preacher,  of  good  literary  acquirements, 
and  who  was  not  too  "  careful  of  his  cloth,"  was  accepta- 
ble everywhere.  But  many  who,  while  intelligent  in  the 
Bible,  were  deficient  in  literary  culture,  were  refused 
audience  in  towns  and  cities,  and,  feeling  themselves 
slighted,  took  up  the  discussion  as  a  matter  of  personal 
grievance.  There  were  yet  others  of  this  latter  class, 
who,  with  a  keenness  of  discernment  which  served  them 


262  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

well  in  the  absence  of  literary  culture,  avoided  places 
where  their  imperfections  would  be  noticed  and  lead  to 
adverse  criticism.  Such  a  state  of  the  case  exists  in  all 
churches,  and  doubtless  will  continue  until  the  end  of  the 
world. 

3d.  Is  it  expedient,  or  right,  to  form  singing-choirs  and 
use  instruments  of  music  in  the  worship?  On  this  ques- 
tion the  views  of  parties  are  clearly  defined.  Unhappily 
for  the  cause  of  truth,  the  work  of  the  historian  is  far 
easier  than  that  of  religious  teachers  and  guides.  It  is 
quite  an  easy  task  for  us  to  state  the  views  held  by  differ- 
ent parties  in  this  controversy,  but  it  seems  next  to 
impossible  for  those  who  have  the  oversight  of  churches 
to  prevent  a  contest  which  is  sure  to  involve  a  great  deal 
of  strife  and  ill-feeling. 

A  choir  of  singers  who  would  sit  in  the  midst  of  the  con- 
gregation and  generally  sing  such  familiar  hymns  and  tunes 

that  all  the  congregation  who  choose  to  do  so  could  sing 

©    ©  © 

with  them,  was  seldom,  if  ever,  considered  objectionable. 
But  whenever  a  choir  grew  exclusive,  by  appropriating  a 
corner  or  a  gallery  to  themselves,  and  by  the  constant  use 
of  new  and  difficult  music,  thus  destroying  congregational 
singing,  it  at  once  became  the  source  of  strife.  And,  in 
such  a  case,  the  singers  were  quite  likely  to  be  more  en- 
gaged with  the  quality  of  their  music  than  with  the  spirit 
of  worship.  A  very  general  neglect  of  the  singing  by 
older  persons,  leaving  it  exclusively  to  the  caprice  of  the 
young,  has  had  much  to  do  in  opening  the  way  for  the 
strife  that  has  so  seriously  disturbed  the  peace  of  so  many 
of  the  churches. 

On  the  question  of  instrumental  music  in  the  worship, 
there  was  a  division  as  to  whether  it  was  a  question  of  ex- 
pediency.    Many  held  that  the  use  of  a  musical  instrument 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  263 

was  an  intolerable  addition  to  the  worship.  God  has 
given  the  items  or  parts  of  the  worship  in  a  perfect  reve- 
lation, and  did  not  enumerate  instrumental  music  as  one 
of  them.  Its  introduction,  therefore,  was  an  attempt  to 
improve  upon  what  God  has  made  perfect.  It  was  insisted 
that  God  would  not  accept  this  as  worship  at  all,  because 
he  did  not  command  it  to  be  done.  Those  who  held  this 
view  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience,  and  refused  to  worship 
where  an  organ  or  other  musical  instrument  was  used. 
Some  moved  their  membership  on  account  of  it,  and  some 
staid  at  home  and  worshiped  nowhere  rather  than  worship 
where  a  musical  instrument  was  used.  In  a  few  instances 
men  made  churches  of  their  own  families  and  kept  the  or- 
dinances in  their  own  houses. 

Those  who  discussed  it  as  a  question  of  expediency  were 
by  no  means  agreed  among  themselves.  Some  who  saw 
no  sin  in  instrumental  music,  if  used  in  a  proper  manner, 
held  that  it  was  a  thing  so  liable  to  be  abused  as  to  be  a 
dangerous  expedient.  It  might  not  necessarily  be  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  worship  such  as  to  render  it  unacceptable 
to  God.  Yet  it  was  so  liable  to  become  a  cause  of  strife, 
to  choke  off  congregational  singing,  and  to  introduce  irre- 
ligious persons  among  the  worshipers,  that  it  was  not  wise 
to  employ  any  instruments  of  music.  The  furore  which 
spread  all  over  the  country  soon  silenced  all  such  objections 
as  these,  and  musical  instruments  were  very  rapidly  intro- 
duced into  the  churches. 

Anything  regarded  as  a  mere  expedient  can  be  submit- 
ted to  in  the  hope  that  observation  and  experience  will,  in 
course  of  time,  correct  the  evil  there  is  in  it.  So  those 
who  objected  to  instrumental  music  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  of  no  real  advantage  to  singers,  and  liable  tobe  used 
in  such  a  way  as  to  do  mischief,  retained  their  places  in 


264  The  liee  and  times  of 

the  church  after  the  organ  was  introduced  and  made  but 
little  opposition  to  it.  But  those  who  looked  upon  it  as 
au  added  item  in  the  worship  could  no  more  endure  its 
presence  than  they  could  agree  to  the  sprinkling  of  infants 
for  baptism.  Such  persons  immediately  left  the  church 
when  an  organ  was  introduced,  going  to  meeting  where 
there  was  none,  or  staying  at  home  if  no  such  place  was 
within  their  reach. 

Mr.  Franklin  took  this  decided  stand  against  the  use  of 
musical  instruments  in  the  worship,  and  refused  to  preach 
or  to  worship  where  there  was  one  unless  it  could  be  si- 
lenced during  his  stay.  On  one  occasion  he  found  a  con- 
gregation led  in  singing  by  a  flute.  He  endured  it  for 
two  or  three  evenings,  but  finally,  on  announcing  a  future 
meeting,  urged  the  presence  of  more  singers,  and  added  : 
"Hereafter  we  will  dispense  with  the  whistle." 

Mr.  Franklin's  youngest  son  had  quite  a  talent  for  mu- 
sic, and  while  a  mere  youth  became  an  accomplished  per- 
former on  the  piano  and  organ.  He  was  at  the  time 
thinking  of  making  music  his  profession,  and  upon  the  in- 
quiry how  he  might  get  at  the  work  so  as  to  make  it  prof- 
itable. Some  one  suggested  that  a  good  plan  would  be  to 
go  along  with  his  father  and  sell  musical  instruments.  He 
was  sufficiently  interested  to  repeat  the  suggestion  to  his 
father.  Mr.  Franklin  listened  patiently  till  all  the  points 
of  the  case  were  before  him,  and  then  said,  "And  shan't 
we  take  a  monkey  along,  too?" 

The  shape  in  which  these  matters  came  before  the  pub- 
lic was  such  that  the  advocates  of  the  changes  involved 
in  them,  regarded  them  as  an  advance  required  by  the 
spirit  of  the  times.  Progress  in  science,  art,  literature 
and  commerce  demanded  progress  in  religion.  These 
were  matters  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Disciples,  and 


ELDER  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  265 

when  they  found  that  public  opinion  or  the  usages  of  so- 
ciety required  changes  in  these  respects,  they  were  at 
liberty  to  make  them.  And  it  was  further  claimed  that 
a  church  which  should  refuse  to  heed  these  demands  could 
not  succeed  with  the  people.  The  old-fashioned  and 
cheap  meeting  houses,  with  their  uncarpeted  floors  and 
uncushioned  benches,  did  well  enough  for  the  pioneers 
who  lived  in  log  houses.  The  uncultivated  preacher  did 
well  enough  for  people  who  had  no  schools  and  no  books 
but  the  Bible.  The  old  style  of  singing,  in  which  males 
and  females  all  joined  with  imperfect  melody  in  singing 
the  leading  part  in  a  piece  of  music,  did  well  enough  for 
people  who  had  no  musical  education.  But  the  people  of 
our  day  are  well-to-do  people,  who  have  all  the  conveni- 
ences aud  the  manners  of  refined  society,  and  cannot  en- 
joy a  meeting  in  a  house  which  does  not  comport  with 
their  style  of  living  at  home.  Our  people  are  an  edu- 
cated people,  and  he  who  would  edify  them  in  public  dis- 
course must  be  a  man  of  liberal  education  and  refined 
manners.  Our  people  are  skilled  in  music,  and  they  can- 
not join  with  true  devotion  in  a  song  which  violates  all 
the  rules  of  musical  harmony.  They  require  a  band  of 
cultivated  singers,  whose  voices  are  to  be  supported  by 
good  instruments  under  the  hands  of  skillful  players.* 
Changing  our  customs  as  the  times  change,  and  keeping 

*  The  cabinet  organ  for  "  the  little  churches  round  the  corner,"  and  the 
deep  toned  pipe  organ  for  the  church  of  the  grand  people  on  the  leading  ave- 
nue, have  been  the  fashion  for  some  years.  But  as  we  write  the  fash- 
ion is  changing.  The  choir  in  one  of  the  tine  churches  in  New  York  sits  in 
the  mid'st  of  the  congregation,  and  the  music  is  led  by  a  cornet,  which  leads 
the  soprano.  The  elite  in  many  of  the  towns  and  cities  are  weary  of  the  or- 
gan tones,  which,  on  the  whole,  are  getting  too  common,  and  are  anxious  for 
a  change.  Many  churches  have  already  followed  the  metropolitan  example. 
The  cornet-player  is  "  the  coming  man,"  who  is  to  supersede  the  Misses 
heretofore  known  as  "  organists." 


266  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   FKANKLIN. 

up  with  the  manners  of  the  age,  was  called  "  progress  " 
by  those  who  made  a  point  of  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  urged  that  we  are  not  to  be 
formed  by  the  times  in  which  we  live,  as  that  would  be 
"  conforming  to  the  world,*;  But  we  are  to  be  above  the 
times  and  are  to  use  our  influence  in  elevating  mankind. 
It  was  held  that  "  progression  "  is  a  misnomer — that 
these  changes  are  a  "  retrogression."  We  should  ever, 
in  all  these  matters,  keep  in  view  the  question  of  right. 
What  is  right?  What  is  according  to  the  will  of  God? 
These  are  the  questions  for  Christians.  They  should 
never  concern  themselves  about  the  manners  of  the  aire. 
It  was  insisted  that  we  should  be  more  godly  and  of  more 
real  service  to  mankind,  to  follow  exclusively  the  dictates 
of  reason  enlightened  by  the  word  of  God,  wholly  re- 
gardless of  "  the  demands  of  the  age."  We  cannot 
yield  to  the  usages  of  society  at  all  without  contamination. 
The  "  demands  of  the  age  "  are  usually  wrong,  and 
rather  to  be  resisted  than  consulted  as  a  guide. 

As  usual  in  such  cases,  the  discussion  went  on  all  the 
more  furious,  if  possible,  from  the  fact  that  the  points  of 
difference  were  not  always  clearly  defined,  Epithet  and 
invective  often  superseded  argument.  The  charge  of 
"  old  fogyism  "  was  met  by  the  counter  charge  of  sur- 
rendering to  the  "  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye, 
and  the  pride  of  life."  The  periodical  literature  was 
filled  to  overflowing  with  controversial  articles  on  these 
subjects,  until  readers  sickened  of  the  discussion  and  de- 
manded a  cessation  of  hostilities.  Editors  were  com- 
pelled to  close  their  columns  against  it. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

IN  January,  1856,  Benjamin  Franklin  issued  the  first 
number  of  a  double-columned,  thirty-two  paged 
monthly,  entitled,  The  American  Christian  Review. 
We  are  not  advised  as  to  the  circumstance  which  suggested 
this  name  for  the  new  periodical.  A  monthly  was  issued 
from  Franklin  College,  Tennesse,  for  several  years  under 
the  management  of  Talbert  Fanning,  and  called  The  Chris- 
tian Review.  This  was,  during  its  existence,  one  of  Mr. 
Franklin's  favorite  exchanges.  Whatever  may  have  sug- 
gested the  title,  the  periodical  at  the  outset  took  a  char- 
acter corresponding  to  its  name.  For  twenty-two  years 
it  continued  to  be  a  review  of  Christianity  in  America, 
and  especially  of  the  current  status  of  the  Reformation. 

The  repeated  changes  from  the  time  that  Mr.  Franklin 
bought  out  Alexander  Hall's  Gospd  Proclamation,  were 
calculated  to  impress  his  friends  with  the  idea  that  he  was 
somewhat  fickle  in  his  business  plans  and  purposes.  The 
circumstances  already  related  will  suggest  to  the  reader 
that  these  changes  were  matters  beyond  the  editor's  con- 
trol. He  succeeded  uniformly,  and  pursued  an  undevi- 
ating  course  when  his  periodicals  were  wholly  under  his 
own  control.  An  intimation  of  the  surroundings,  during 
the  half  dozen  years  in  which  so  many  changes  occurred,  is 
found  in  the  "  Introductory  Address  "  to  the  first  volume 
of  the  Review.     He  says  : 

"  In  looking  over  our  history  for  the  last  six  years,  the 
reader  may  conclude  we  are  addicted  to  change,  and  that 
our  operations  are  not  as  reliable  as  could  be  wished.    At 


2ti8  THE    LIFE    AND    TOiES    OP 

least  an  apparent  ground  has  been  given  for  such  a  con- 
clusion, in  the  several  different  arrangements  we  have 
passed  through.  But  such  is  not  the  fact;  and  these 
changes  have  been  caused  by  means  beyond  our  control, 
and  that  cannot  be  fully  explained  nor  understood  till  all 
the  works  of  the  children  of  men  shall  be  fully  spread  out 
in  the  last  judgment. 

"This  work  is  fully  under  our  own  control,  and  if  it 
does  not  proceed  with  regularity,  firmness  and  stability, 
the  responsibility  is  ours.  We  are  laboring  under  no  dis- 
affection from  any  of  our  former  arrangements,  have  no 
ill  or  unkind  feeling  toward  any  with  whom  we  have  been 
associated,  nor  any  in  the  whole  kingdom  of  God  ;  nor 
would  we,  for  any  consideration,  lay  a  stumbling-block  in 
any  man's  way." 

Proceeding,  as  was  his  wont,  to  give  an  outline  of  his 
plan  and  purpose  for  the  future,  he  said : 

"  We  trust  we  are  now  in  a  safe,  reliable  and  perma- 
nent business,  and  that  our  way  will  be  clear  for  an  ex- 
tended system  of  operations,  and  by  the  Divine  blessing, 
we  hope  to  achieve  great  good.  We  have  passed  through 
some  transmutations,  and  much  of  the  perplexities  inci- 
dent to  an  imperfect  state,  but  we  have  found  the  cause 
of  Christ  the  same,  and  our  attachment  to  it  only  becomes 
more  ardent  as  we  grow  older  and  see  more  of  the  world, 
and  realize  more  of  the  necessity  of  such  a  gracious  sys- 
tem for  the  children  of  men. 


"In  entering  the  editorial  field  again,  we  wish  the 
friendship,  the  fellowship  and  the  co-operation  of  all  those 
great  and  good  brethren  of  the  same  calling.  We  enter  the 
list,  not  as  a  competitor  or  rival  of  any  of  them,  but  a  co- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  269 

operator  with  them  in  the  same  great  work,  and  we  wish 
them  all  possible  success.  There  is  not  the  least  danger 
of  our  circulating  too  many  publications,  any  more  than 
of  our  sending  out  too  many  preachers  :  the  more  preach- 
ers and  papers  the  better,  if  they  are  the  right  kind. 
Our  magazine,  then,  enters  the  list  as  the  advocate  of  the 
Bible,  of  Christianity,  of  righteousness,  peace  and  good 
will  among  men." 

The  Review  was  hailed  with  a  welcome  that  at  once  de- 
monstrated how  fast  a  hold  the  editor  had  taken  on  the 
hearts  of  thousands  of  people.  Butler  K.  Smith,  who 
wielded  "  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer,"  and  who  had  often 
sent  communications  to  the  Reformer,  on  receipt  of  the 
first  number  of  the  new  periodical,  wrote  to  the  editor: 
*'  I  wish  to  give  you  a  formal  congratulation  upon  your  re- 
sumption of  the  tripod,  as  editor  of  a  monthly  magazine 
of  such  respectable  appearance  as  the  specimen  before 
me,  and  all  under  your  own  control.  May  your  most  san- 
guine hopes  be  more  than  realized,  and  may  your  Review 
attain  a  popularity  only  equalled   by  its  usefulness.  * 

*  You  have  certainly  assumed  the  right  ground  in 
your  introductory  address  — that  of  good  will  to  all  and 
rival  to  none.  And  if  you  do  not  succeed  in  getting  a 
favorable  notice  and  cordial  welcome  by  the  corps  editor- 
ial of  our  brotherhood,  it  will  be  an  exhibition  of  illiber- 
ally on  their  part,  that  will  eventually  find  its  own  end 
in  the  great  heart  of  the  brotherhood." 

At  the  time  of  starting  the  Review,  the  leaven  which 
has  so  thoroughly  leavened  the  whole  lump  of  the  Refor- 
mation, was  at  work,  and  its  presence  was  most  distinctly 
recognized  by  the  editor.  But  he  was  not  the  only  one 
who  saw  tribulation  and  disaster  around  him  and  before 
him.     The  periodical  literature  of  that  day  was  filled  in 


270  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

part  with  articles  entitled,  "The  Decline  of  Churches, " 
M  Causes  of  our  Failure,"  M  Signs  of  the  Times,"  "  Cure 
for  our  Downward  Tendency,"  etc. 

Mr.  Franklin  had,  for  some  months  preceding  August, 
1855,  been  dividing  his  time  as  a  preacher  between  the 
church  on  Clinton  street  in  Cincinnati,  and  that  of  Cov- 
ington, Ky.  These  churches  had  been  exceedingly  kind 
to  him  and  his  family  in  a  dreadful  affliction  which  fell 
upon  them  in  the  spring  of  that  year.  His  second  son, 
James,  then  grown  to  manhood,  was  following  the  calling 
of  a  brick-mason  and  plasterer.  In  April  he  fell  sick  ;  and 
the  physician  at  first  said  he  had  billions  fever.  The  en- 
tire family,  fearing  no  danger,  passed  and  repassed  to  his 
room,  and  waited  upon  him  as  occasion  required.  The 
eldest  son,  then  married  and  residing  in  Western  Indiana, 
chanced  to  be  on  a  visit,  and  spent  two  nights  and  a  day 
with  his  brother.  On  the  next  morning  the  physician 
declared  his  suspicion  that  it  was  a  case  of  small-pox.  A 
short  time  made  it  manifest  that  he  was  correct.  It 
proved  to  be  as  severe  an  attack  of  that  dreadful  disease 
as  any  one  can  have  and  survive.  Having  no  thought  of 
danger,  the  entire  family  had  been  exposed  to  it.  For- 
tunately for  them,  the  parents  and  all  the  other  children, 
save  the  youngest,  had  been  successfully  vaccinated. 
None  of  these  were  seriously  sick — all  escaping  with  a 
slight  varioloid.  The  babe,  already  prostrated  by  the 
cholera  infantum,  took  the  small-pox  and  died.  The 
family  were  cut  off  from  society,  and  Mr.  Franklin  from 
his  preaching,  for  six  weeks.  Joseph  returned  to  his 
home  in  Indiana,  and,  falling  sick  at  the  anticipated  time, 
gave  notice  to  the  people  of  the  village  of  the  danger, 
and,  although  he  was  sick  but  forty-eight  hours,  the 
alarm  of  the  villagers  was  so  great  that  he  was  compelled 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  271 

to  keep  his  room  near  two  weeks.  James  recovered  after 
many  weeks  of  dreadful  suffering,  and  has  since  been  a 
vigorous  and  healthly  man. 

On  the  first  of  August,  Mr.  Franklin,  having  read 
many  of  the  articles  on  the  state  of  the  cause,  above  re- 
ferred to,  determined  to  ask  leave  of  absence  from  his 
preaching-places,  that  he  might  "  look  out  through  the 
country  and  see  the  shape  of  things."  The  request  was 
granted,  and  he  traveled  nearly  three  months,  returning 
home  in  good  time  to  make  the  necessary  preparations 
for  starting  the  American  Christian  Review.  The  part- 
ing with  the  Covington  church  was  as  tender  and  affect- 
ing as  if  it  had  been  final.  In  his  account  of  the  matter 
in  the  Review,  Mr.  Franklin  said  : 

"  By  the  request  of  one  of  the  elders,  the  brethren  sang 
a  parting  hymn,  during  which  the  members,  with  much 
Christian  affection,  extended  to  us  the  parting  hand,  ex- 
pressive of  their  kind  regard  for  us  and  anxiety  for  our 
success  in  turning  men  to  God.  We  owe  our  brethren  in 
Covington,  and  many  other  brethren,  a  large  debt  of  grat- 
itude, not  only  for  their  usual  kindness  and  liberality,  but 
for  their  free-will  offering  in  our  behalf,  during  forty  days 
while  our  family  was  kept  in  awe  and  affliction  with  that 
loathsome  disease  called  small-pox.  In  the  place  of  stop- 
ping our  support  when  we  could  no  longer  fill  our  place, 
as  has  been  the  case  in  some  instances  when  preaching 
brethren  have  failed  through  affliction  to  fill  engagements, 
these  brethren  contributed  our  regular  support,  and 
added  an  extra  contribution  of  some  forty  dollars." 

His  purpose,  as  he  said  on  asking  leave  of  absence, 
was  "  to  look  abroad  and  see  the  shape  of  things."  His 
first  visit  was  to  Rush  county,  Indiana,  where  he  met 
many  acquaintances  and  personal  friends,  including   his 


272  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

mother  and  his  brothers,  Daniel  and  David  Franklin. 
Among  many  others  were  two  pioneers  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, whose  presence  at  the  meeting  afforded  Mr.  Franklin 
the  occasion  to  say  in  his  account  of  the  trip  : 

"In  the  course  of  the  meeting,  elders  Peter  Miles  and 
Jacob  Danbenspeck  were  some  portion  of  the  time  present. 
These  are  old  preachers  and  true,  who  contended  for  the 
faith  long  and  hard,  without  any  earthly  remuneration, 
when  the  bretheren  were  few  and  poor.  The  blessing  of 
heaven  has  attended  them.  The  cause  they  maintained 
has,  in  their  section  of  the  country,  gained  the  victory, 
and  now  has  more  influence  than  all  sectarian  parties  com- 
bined. They  are  both  abundantly  supplied  with  the  good 
things  of  this  life,  and  for  years  past  have  given  liberally 
to  the  support  of  those  wholly  devoted  to  the  ministry  of 
the  Word.  The  churches  never  should  forget  their  in- 
debtedness to  such  men,  nor  should  young  members  be- 
come too  proud  to  hear  and  encourage  them.  We  make 
not  this  observation  for  these  men  alone,  but  for  many 
more  who  stand  in  a  similar  attitude,  only  not  so  well 
provided  for  temporally.  Old  men  are  neglected.  That 
wise  adage,  'Old  men  for  counsel,  but  young  men  for  war,' 
has  gone  out  of  date.  It  is  too  far  behind  the  times  for 
'Young  America,'  for  'this  age  of  progression  and  improve- 
ment.' Aged  men,  such  as  God,  under  all  dispensations, 
has  required  his  people  to  honor  and  respect,  are  now 
sneered  at  as  'common,'  'old-fashioned,'  'fogies,'  that  may 
do  to  speak  'in  the  country,'  but  not  for  towns  and  cities  ! 
Young  and  vain  men  are  flattered  and  inflated  with  con- 
ceit, if  not  real  foppery  and  dandyism  encouraged."  But 
in  all  such  cases,  the  ruin  of  the  cause,  and  frequently 
both  the  ruin  of  the  old  preacher  and  the  young  is  wrought. 
Several  cases  within  our  horizon  fui'uUh  sad  comments, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  273 

demonstrative  of  all  this.  Our  aged  preachers  must  re- 
ceive the  respect,  esteem  and  consideration  due  them. 
They  must  be  treated  with  deference,  and  their  counsels 
must  be  regarded  and  have  their  due  weight.  It  is  con- 
trary both  to  reason  and  revelation  that  the  younger  should 
rule  the  elder.  Young  men,  however,  must  be  encour- 
aged, their  way  opened  for  usefulness  and  improvement, 
and  proper  consideration  given  to  their  efforts.  All  pos- 
sible care  should  be  taken  to  improve  young  brethern  who 
are  making  efforts  to  preach,  to  make  an  open  door  for 
them,  and  make  them  useful.  But  there  is  both  a  rational 
and  a  scriptural  place  for  both  the  elder  and  the  younger, 
that  both  be  encouraged,  sustained,  and  duly  honored, 
and  the  cause  saved  from  scandal." 

What  is  the  "rational  and  scriptural  place  for  both  the 
elder  and  the  younger, "  is  a  matter  not  at  all  easily  adjusted 
by  authoritative  rules.  If  the  youth  are  carefully  taught 
to  respect  and  venerate  the  aged,  as  the  Scriptures  require 
that  they  should,  there  will  be  but  little  trouble  with  re- 
spect to  the  older  preachers.  In  the  great  contest  between 
"liberalism"  and  "conservatism' '  there  has  been  a  ten- 
dency to  extremes  always.  When  the  Disciples  fell  into 
disagreement  on  the  subject  of  the  ministry,  this  tendency 
was  constantly  manifested.  Liberalists,  (or  "progres- 
sives," as  they  were  generally  called) ,  held  that  the  "spirit 
of  the  age"  demanded  a  more  cultivated  ministry.  But 
this  "culture"  did  not  refer  so  much  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  Bible  and  of  human  nature,  which  are  the  great  essen- 
tials of  success  in  the  ministry,  as  to  the  knowledge  of 
letters.  It  often  happened  that,  in  their  anxiety  for  liter- 
ary culture,  the  more  important  parts  of  the  minister's 
training  were  not  noted  with  sufficient  care.  Older  preach- 
ers, who  by  years  of  success  in  the  ministry  had  demon- 
13 


274  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

strated  their  ability,  were  elbowed  to  make  room  for  young 
men  of  whom  nothing  was  known  but  that  they  had  more 
literary  and  social  polish.  Young  ministers  were  often 
flattered  and  caressed  until  their  heads  were  turned  with 
self-conceit  and  they  could  never  thereafter  be  profited  by 
their  experiences.  This  extreme  brought  the  "progres- 
sives" into  contempt  as  a  worldly-minded  class  of  people, 
who  were  indifferent  to  soundness  in  the  faith. 

The  conservatives,  on  the  other  hand,  (often  sneeringly 
called  "old  fogies"),  sometimes  made  such  a  defense  of 
the  uneducated  ministers  as  implied  an  entire  indifference 
to  the  matter  of  literary  culture.  They  seemed,  at  times, 
to  fear. the  soundness  in  the  faith  of  any  man,  and  espec- 
ially of  any  young  man,  who  was  above  the  average  in  lit- 
erary culture.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  neither  party  fairly 
represented  the  other,  and  yet  that  each  gave  the  other 
some  ground  for  the  misrepresentation.  And  it  is  true, 
also,  as  before  stated  on  these  pages,  that  the  line  of  sep- 
aration between  the  parties  was  never  very  clearly  marked. 
Local  surroundings  and  prejudices  modified  the  contest  in 
most  of  the  churches. 

As  the  thoughts  of  the  people  turned  from  the  itinera- 
ting "evangelist' '  to  the  settled  "pastor,"  there  came  a 
decided  decline  of  the  evangelical  spirit  in  the  ministry. 
The  situation  and  the  remedy  were  appreciated  by  Benja- 
min Franklin,  and  he  was  not  slow  in  sounding  the  trum- 
pet in  tones  of  warning,  nor  did  he  fail  to  act  in  accord- 
ance with  his  own  view  of  the  case.  He  was  by  no  means 
indifferent  to  the  "oversight  of  the  churches' '  by  men 
who  were  "apt  to  teach,"  but  he  regarded  the  plea  for  the 
"pastorate"  as  a  plea  for  an  unscriptural  thing.  In  the 
Review  for  February,  1856,  we  find  an  editorial  on  "Evan- 
gelizing," from  which  we  make  the  following  extract; 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


275 


"  If  we  are  not  sadly  mistaken,  here  is  where  the  atten- 
tion of  the  brotherhood  needs  directing  now.  It  is  no 
mutter  how  many  schemes  the  brethren  engage  in,  nor 
how  good  their  object,  if  they  neglect  evangelizing,  the 
cause  will  fail.  In  every  city,  town,  village  and  neigh- 
borhood where  evangelical  labors  are  not  enjoyed,  the 
cause  is  languishing  and  suffering.  The  attention  of  the 
evangelists  has  been  divided  and  distracted  by  unavailing 
and  useless  schemes,  to  the  neglect  of  the  great  evangeli- 
cal work.  Schemes  of  organization  have  been  commented 
upon,  until  the  brethren  have  become  sickened,  and  they 
turn  from  the  subject  at  the  first  sight  of  the  caption  of 
an  article  treating  upon  it,  feeling  conscious  that  it  will 
not  afford  relief.  Long  theories  upon  officers  and  their 
qualifications,  and  fine  descriptions  of  the  details  of  the 
pastorate  appear  in  the  prints ;  but  the  churches  fall 
soundly  asleep  under  their  fine  theories.  If  we  intend  to 
save  the  cause,  we,  as  evangelists  of  Christ,  have  some- 
thing more  to  do  than  to  seek  good  places,  ease  and 
earthly  comfort.  The  Lord  did  not  intend  Evangelists  to 
open  an  office,  and  sit  clown  in  it  and  wait  for  sinners  to 
come  to  them  to  be  converted.  But  he  intended  the  living 
preacher  to  go  to  sinners,  and  with  the  living  voice  preach 
to  them  the  word  of  the  living  God.  The  command  is  to 
go,  go  and  keep  going,  while  God  shall  give  us  life  ;  go, 
believing  in  God,  with  a  strong  faith — trusting  in  the  Lord 
for  a  support  now,  and  eternal  glory  in  the  world  to  come. 

«'  A  little  preaching  on  Lord's  day  will  not  do  the  work. 
The  Word  should  be  preached  every  day  and  every  night 
as  far  as  possible.  We  cannot  confine  our  labors  to  cities, 
towns  and  villages,  expecting  preaching  to  be  brought  to 
us,  as  work  to  a  tailor,  hatter,  or  shoemaker ;  but  we 
must  go  out  into  the   country,  among  the  people,  and  be 


276  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF 

one  of  them,  as  messengers  sent  from  God  to  take  them 
to  Heaven.  We  are  not  to  confine  ourselves  to  the  fine 
meeting-houses ;  but,  when  we  can  do  no  better,  go  to 
the  court-house,  the  town  or  city  hall,  the  old  seminary, 
the  school-house,  or  the  private  dwelling,  and  preach  to 
the  people.  We  must  not  wait  for  the  large  assembly, 
but  preach  to  the  few,  the  small,  humble  and  unpromising 
congregation.  We  must  not  merely  pretend  to  preach, 
while  we  are  only  complaining  of  them  and  telling  how 
bad  they  are,  whining  over  them  and  murmuring,  showing 
contempt  for  them  and  for  all  their  arrangements,  but 
preach  to  them  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  remembering 
that  in  every  form  we  see  there  is  a  living  spirit,  upon 
which  Jesus  looked  when  he  died,  and  which  is  worth 
more  than  the  great  globe  on  which  he  walks.  No  matter 
how  lowly,  how  humble,  how  poor  and  uncomely  all  their 
temporal  arrangements,  you  will  find  on  acquaintance 
some  who  will  love  the  Lord,  turn  from  their  sins,  and 
become  jewels  in  the  Lord's,  and  also  in  the  preacher's 
crown  of  rejoicing.,, 

As  soon  as  his  engage ment  with  the  churches  above 
referred  to  expired,  Mr.  Franklin  entered  the  work  of  a 
traveling  evangelist,  to  which  he  always  inclined,  and  to 
which  he  thereafter  gave  his  whole  time,  except  when 
occasionally  interrupted  by  the  sickness  of  himself  or  of 
some  of  his  family,  until  he  died.  The  year  1856  was 
one  of  the  most  agreeable  and  profitable  of  his  whole  life. 
The  Review  was  a  success  in  every  way.  The  subscrip- 
tion reached  nearly  three  thousand  that  year,  and  a  noble 
corps  of  contributors  gave  their  liberal  and  hearty  aid 
toward  filling  its  columns  with  interesting  and  useful  mat- 
ter. In  an  editorial  for  the  December  number,  he  said : 
"  This  year  we  have  performed  more  labor  than  we  have 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  277 

in  any  previous  year  of  our  life,  have  had  better  success, 
everything  considered,  both  in  the  pulpit  and  with  the 
pen.  It  has  also  been  our  happiest  year;  all  has  gone 
truly  well  with  us.  We  have  issued  four  thousand  copies 
of  the  Review,  have  put  about  three  thousand  copies  into 
circulation,  and  the  balance  are  going  every  day.  We 
have  put  many  thousands  of  tracts  also  into  circulation — 
more,  so  far  as  we  know,  than  have  ever  been  put  into 
circulation  among  the  brethren  in  one  year  before,  and 
have  preached  more  than  a  sermon  for  each  day  of  the 
year." 

It  was  during  this  year  that  the  tract,  entitled,  "  Sin- 
cerity Seeking  the  Way  to  Heaven, "  was  issued.  It  has 
had  the  largest  circulation  of  any  tract  or  book  ever  writ- 
ten among  the  Disciples,  and  is  still  in  demand.  The 
tract  is  based  on  the  history  of  a  young  man  in  Cincin- 
nati, whose  case  came  to  Mr.  Franklin's  notice  while 
preaching  in  the  Clinton  Street  Church.  Some  incidents 
were  added  by  the  author,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating 
points  that  may  come  before  any  one  in  the  progress  of 
such  an  inquiry,  but  with  these  exceptions,  the  entire  tract 
is  literally  a  history. 

On  the  occasion  of  a  second  trip  to  Indiana,  about  this 
time,  Mr.  Franklin  met  a  parson  whose  history  will  be 
entertaining  to  the  readers  of  this  volume,  and  of  whom 
the  editorial  account  of  the  meeting  says : 

"Here,  too,  we  met  the  venerable  and  beloved  Elijah 
Martindale,*  who  was  present  and  preached  on  the  night 
when   we  confessed  the  Redeemer  and    Saviour  of   the 


*  We  had  intended  to  give  a  sketch  of  this  pioneer  preacher  amid  other  sim- 
ilar sketches  in  the  former  part  of  this  work,  but  we  failed  to  obtain  the 
materials  until  we  had  put  those  sketches  into  the  hands  of  the  printer.  It 
will  not,  however,  be  seriously  out  of  place  here. 


278  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

world.  He  has  lived  to  see  the  cause — then  new  in  that 
country  and  with  but  few  friends — well-established  and 
strongly  defended.  He  preached  many  years  with  very 
little  pecuniary  reward,  but  with  great  success,  supported 
a  large  family,  and  is  now  comfortably  situated  in  tempo- 
ralities, and  universally  beloved.  We  believe,  too,  that 
almost,  if  not  quite,  all  his  children  are  in  the  faith,  and 
one  son  in  the  ministry." 

Elijah  Martindale  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  Novem- 
ber 10,  1793.  II is  parents  moved  first  into  Ohio,  and 
then,  in  1811,  into  Wayne  county,  Indiana.  His  parents 
were  zealous  members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  He  mar- 
ried a  woman  who  was  a  member  of  the  Christian  Con- 
nection, or  "  Newlight"  Church.  Shortly  before  he  was 
married  he  began  to  have  that  dreadful  "  experience  of 
grace"  characteristic  of  Calvinistic  Baptists  of  that  day. 
After  Ions:  waiting-  and  asronv  he  bejmn  to  pursuade  him- 
self  that  he  had  been  converted.  But  he  had  two 
troubles  about  joining  the  church.  His  parents  were 
Baptists,  his  wife  and  her  friends  were  Christians,  and 
most  of  his  other  near  friends  were  Methodists.  To  join 
either  one  would  oifend  the  others.  Fie  wished  to  be  bap- 
tized, but  could  find  none  to  baptize  him  unless  he  would 
present  himself  regularly  for  membership  in  the  church. 
He  would  have  joined  the  Baptist  Church,  only  he  "could 
not  indorse  the  covenant."  He  finally  presented  himself 
publicly  to  a  Seventh  Day  Baptist  preacher  who  chanced 
to  be  holding  a  meeting  in  the  neighborhood,  and  asked 
to  be  baptized.  His  "  experience,' '  as  related  in  the 
manuscript  before  us,  was  a  very  good  sermon  on  the 
44  Ancient  Gospel,"  but  was  accepted  and  he  was  bap- 
tized. Full  of  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  men,  he  began  at 
once  to  exhort,  laboring  promiscuously  among  the  Bap- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  279 

tists,  Methodists,  Christians,  and  United  Brethren,  all  of 
whom  gladly  welcomed  his  presence  among  them.  While 
thus  without  any  church  relation,  he  was  one  day  on  the 
road  to  an  appointment  in  company  with  a  United 
Brethren  preacher,  named  William  Stubbs,  to  whom  he 
propounded  the  following  question:  "  Brother  Stubbs, 
were  not  the  persons  whom  the  Apostles  commanded  to 
be  baptized  about  the  same  that  we  call  mourners?"  The 
answer  came  hesitatingly  :  tk  It  looks  a  good  deal  like  it ; 
but  it  would  not  do  for  a  rule  with  us ;  we  should  get  too 
many  bad  members  in  the  church." 

After  much  deliberation  and  many  earnest  prayers  he 
took  membership  in  the  Christian  Connection,  among 
whom  he  continued  and  preached  for  about  ten  years. 
Among  these  people  he  preached,  as  did  all  of  them, 
faith,  repentance,  and  prayer,  as  the  terms  of  pardon 
for  the  sinner.  But  he  and  others  were  always  troubled 
by  the  fact  that  many  persons,  giving  every  possible  evi- 
dence of  genuine  faith  and  repentance,  and  who  prayed 
publicly,  were  still  unpardoned.  "About  the  year  1830," 
says  he  in  the  autobiographical  sketch  from  which  we  are 
condensing,  **  I  commenced  preaching  faith,  repentance, 
prayer,  and  baptism,  all  connected,  as  so  many  links  in 
the  chain  of  the  divine  arrangement  of  pardon  as  taught  by 
Christ  and  the  Apostles.  I  was  soon  nicknamed  a 
1  Campbellite,'  and  many  of  my  old  brethren  with  whom 
I  had  long  lived  in  love  and  fellowship,  began  to  turn  the 
cold  shoulder  and  to  close  their  meeting  houses,  just  as 
other  sects  had  treated  us  before.  Poor  weak  mortals 
we  are  !  " 

In  1832,  Mr.  Marti ndale  moved  with  his  family  into 
Henry  county,  and  settled  on  Flatrock,  not  far  from  New- 
castle.    Here  he  remained  for  some  time  the  only  preacher 


280  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

of  the  Reformation  in  the  county.  He  was  the  founder  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  on  Little  Blue  River,  Henry 
county.  On  the  night  of  his  first  visit  to  the  place,  ac- 
companied by  John  Plummer,  another  preacher,  and 
while  they  were  preaching,  some  "  rude  fellows  of  the 
baser  sort  shaved  the  hair  from  their  horses'  necks  and 
tails.  After  the  church  was  formed,  one  of  its  members 
started  a  distillery.  A  farm  owned  by  the  church  was 
rented  for  a  share  in  the  crop.  The  distiller  bought  the 
grain  and  the  church  took  the  money  to  pay  for  preaching  ! 
Mr.  Martindale  protested,  and  to  show  his  disapprobation 
went  to  a  temperance  meeting  and  signed  the  pledge. 
The  church  then  sent  a  committee  to  rebuke  him  and  try 
to  win  him  from  the  error  of  his  ways.  The  church  lan- 
guished a  long  time  thereafter,  but  finally  rallied  and  now 
is  as  squarely  opposed  to  the  liquor  traffic  and  liquor 
drinking  as  any  church  in  the  country. 

He  made  occassional  visits  to  the  settlements  on  Deer 
creek,  and  co-operated  with  Samuel  Rogers,  whose  work 
there  is  already  familiar  to  our  readers.  Of  these  visits 
he  says  :  "  Those  were  happy  days.  I  love  to  think  upon 
them  yet.  One  night  we  had  a  meeting  at  the  house  of 
brother  Joseph  Robbins.  Brother  Rogers  set  me  forward 
to  preach.  I  read  as  a  foundation,  Isa.,  eh.  lv.,  vs.  10, 
11.  I  dwelt  on  the  power  of  the  word  of  God.  At  the 
end  of  my  discourse  I  made  a  draft  on  the  faith  of  the  un- 
professors  present.  Benjamin  and  Daniel  Franklin,  then 
young  men,  the  latter  not  married,  walked  forward  and 
gave  me  their  hands.  We  took  their  confessions,  and  by 
the  light  of  lanterns  and  torches  we  went  to  the  water, 
where  brother  Rogers  buried  them  with  their  Saviour  in 
baptism  the  same  hour  of  the  night." 

Many  Disciples  in  Eastern  Indiana  can  recall  the  ven- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN   ERANKUN.  281 

erable  form,  the  long  hair  and  beard  as  white  as  snow, 
the  voice  tremulous  With  age,  as  he  stood  before  us  and 
uitered  his  earnest  exhortations.  Only  a  few  can  recall 
him  as  in  the  vigor  of  his  manhood  he  went  to  and  fro, 
warning  sinners  and  comforting  saints,  a  very  Barnabas  in 
his  hortatory  power.  The  many  of  his  contemporaries 
have  gone  over  the  river,  and  he  and  they  together  await 
the  summons  of  the  great  day. 

The  American  Christian  Review,  monthly,  was  pub- 
lished in  pamphlet  form  throughout  the  years  1856-57. 
The  success  was  as  great  as  ever  attended  the  editor  in 
any  of  his  publications.  The  leading  men  of  the  Reform- 
ation rallied  to  his  support  very  generally.  Contributors 
increased,  until,  as  the  editor  of  the  little  monthly 
Reformer  said,  he  began  to  feel  the  want  of  "  elbow- 
room."  His  friends  could  not  all  be  heard  through  so 
small  a  paper,  and  complained,  which  occasioned  the  edi- 
tor to  meditate  upon  enlargement.  But,  although  so 
generally  encouraged  by  his  surroundings,  there  were 
elements  in  existence  and  forces  at  work  laying  the 
foundation  for  an  opposition  as  determined  and  bitter  as 
ever  any  man  met  and  overcame. 

The  tremendous  political  revolution  which  ended  in 
the  great  civil  war  in  the  United  States  and  the  over- 
throw of  the  institution  of  slavery,  is  familiar  to  the 
reader.  The  dissolution  of  the  old  Whig  party  and  the 
organization  of  the  Republican  in  its  place  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  time  when  the  American  people  were  gen- 
erally enlisted  in  the  terrible  conflict.  An  anti-slavery 
agitation  had  existed  long  before  that,  and  the  strife  had 
been  in  progress  a  long  time  in  many  of  the  denomina- 
tions, several  having  divided  into  Northern  and  Southern 
branches.     But  the  question  had  never  been  a  disturbing 


282  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

element  among  the  Disciples.  Anti-slavery  men  were 
generally  looked  upon  as  fanatics  and  disturbers  of  the 
peace.  An  "Address  of  the  American  Christian  Bible 
Society f*  D.  S.  Burnet,  president,  and  James  Challen, 
secretary,  published  in  January,  1847,  disclaimed  "  all 
negative  or  affirmative  action  upon,  or  interference  with, 
any  of  the  sectional  and  State  questions,  which  have  de- 
ranged the  operations  of  other  large  and  popular  associa- 
tions of  the  same  kind/7  since  it  would  make  the  Society 
"  a  party  to  the  unhappy  and  unprofitable  controversies 
which  have  divided  their  benevolent  institutions  into 
north  and  south."  The  Genius  of  Christianity  objected 
to  this  as  "  a  one-sided  neutrality,"  and  compared  it  to 
Alexander  Campbell's  articles  entitled  "  Our  Position  to 
American  Slavery,'7  affirming  at  the  same  time  that  Mr. 
Campbell  "  declared  himself  neither  an  advocate  nor  an 
apologist  for  slavery,  but  complimented  slaveholders  for 
their  piety,  and  hurled  his  deadly  arrows  at  the  opponents 
of  that  baneful  system  !" 

The  whole  body  of  the  Disciples,  with  only  here  and 
there  an  exception,  down  to  the  time  of  the  organization 
of  the  Republican  party,  were  agreed  that  it  was  a  ques- 
tion of  politics  and  not  of  religion.  The  difference  between 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  most  of  those  who,  from  1856  to 
1865,  so  sharply  criticized  his  course,  was,  that  he  ad- 
hered to  his  convictions  when  doing  so  threatened  the 
complete  ruin  of  his  temporal  prospects,  while  with  them 
a  convenient  and  timely  change  of  opinion  placed  them 
on  the  popular  side  in  the  great  conflict. 

Mr.  Franklin  did  not  evade  the  responsibility  of 
taking  a  position  when  the  crisis  came.  In  the  second 
number  of  the  Review,  monthly,  he  held  as  follows  : 

"Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  never  mnde  an}r  direct 
attacks  upon  the  mere  relations  of  master  and  servant. 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  283 

"  The  existence  of  the  relation  of  master  and  servant 
was  permitted  among  the  primitive  Disciples,  and  in  the 
church. 

"  Both  masters  and  servants  entered  by  the  same 
door  into  the  primitive  church,  and  were  members  of  it.'' 

This  was  submitted  in  answer  to  the  question,  "  Where 
is  the  Safe  Ground?"  These  populations,  with  the  fol- 
lowing concluding  paragraph,  now  that  a  day  for  calmer 
reflection  on  the  course  then  pursued  by  men  has  come, 
may  serve  to  set  his  position  fully  before  the  reader : 

''In  conclusion,  we  remark,  to  all  whom  it  may  con- 
cern, that  if  the  evils  resulting  from  slavery  as  a  system, 
or  institution,  were  worse  than  the  most  horrific  picture 
ever  drawn  by  the  most  oyer-heated  anti-slavery  man,  or 
worse  than  they  really  are,  Christianity  is  no  more  charge- 
able with  them,  than  it  is  for  the  oppression  of  the  poor 
in  Cincinnati,  Philadelphia  or  New  York  —  for  it  is  a 
worldly  and  human  institution,  not  founded  by  the 
Author  of  Christianity.  It  is  no  result,  or  emanation  from 
Christianity,  but  stands  upon  the  same  footing  as  the  civil 
governments  in  the  world  when  Christianity  came  into  it. 
If  men  who  have  slaves  abuse  them,  Christianity  is  not 
responsible  for  that  either, —  for  it,  with  all  the  weight  of 
authority,  forbids  such  abuse;  and  such  men,  if  in  the 
church,  are  accountable  to  the  church  and  to  the  Lord 
for  their  individual  conduct.  Christianity  has  bettered 
the  condition  of  all,  both  bound  and  free,  in  all  nations, 
in  all  countries,  and  in  all  ages,  wherever  it  has  gone, 
preparing  all  for  a  better  world,  when  they  shall  pass 
beyond  the  imperfect  civil  institutions  of  this  life.  In  one 
word,  having  been  born,  brought  up,  and  having  lived  in 
a  free  State,  without  ever  having  any  interest  in  a  slave, 
and  intending  never  to  have  any,  we  have  uo  commission 


284  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

from  Jesns  Christ  to  upturn  the  civil  institutions  of  slave 
States,  whether  good  or  bad,  much  less  authority  for 
making  the  Church,  of  God  a  political  engine  for  such  a 
purpose.' ' 

In  his  prospectus  announcing  the  Review  he  had  prom- 
ised that  "  the  editor  will  ride  no  hobbies,  countenance 
no  one-ideaism,  and  his  pages  shall  be  used  for  no  such 
purpose."  Of  the  publication  of  this  sentence  he  had 
occasion  within  a  few  months  to  say:  "We  have  never 
penned  a  little  sentence  that  has  occasioned  so  much  un- 
easiness, called  forth  so  many  letters,  and  brought  down 
upon  our  head  such  unmerciful  strictures."  In  response 
to  "  an  elderly  brother,  well-beloved,  and  whose  intentions 
were  good,"  and  who  demanded  to  know  what  he  meant 
by  "  one-ideaism,"  the  editor  wrote  : 

"It  is  to  be  carried  away  with  one  idea.  The  idea 
may  be  a  good  one  or  it  may  not ;  but  one-ideaism  is 
giving  an  undue  importance  to  an  idea.  A  man  addicted 
to  one-ideaism  can  no  more  cover  it  than  can  a  leopard 
change  his  spots.  U  he  attempts  to  pray,  he  will  com- 
mence with  something  else  as  a  stepping-stone,  regularly 
and  unmistakably  paving  his  way  to  his  favorite  idea. 
When  it  is  put  forth,  and  he  is  delivered  of  it,  he  is  re- 
lieved for  the  time  being,  especially  if  he  finds  that  some 
one  is  annoyed  by  it.  If  you  call  on  him  for  an  exhorta- 
tion, a  sermon,  or  if  he  writes,  he  may  wind  round  and 
round,  trace  backward  and  forward,  but  it  will,  in  spite  of 
himself,  in  all  his  efforts  to  conceal  it,  be  manifest  to  all, 
that  he  takes  no  interest  in  all  he  is  saying,  only  as  it  sub- 
serves his  purpose,  in  paving  the  way  to  the  one  idea,  the 
centre  around  which  the  whole  man  revolves,  and  to 
which  his  whole  existence  is,  for  the  time  being,  subser- 
vient.    If  that  one  idea  is  not  dragged  in,  the  man  is  not 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  285 

relieved,  bis  burden  is  still  upon  his  soul,  and  he  is  in 
travail  waiting  to  be  delivered. 

"You  will  see  this  class  of  men  at  conventions  and 
meetings,  both  political  and  religious,  without  the  most 
distant  idea  of  promoting  the  objects  of  the  convention  or 
meeting,  and  with  no  higher  aim  than  introducing  their 
idea  to  notice,  making  the  meeting  an  engine,  and  men 
met  under  other  obligations,  and  with  the  ostensible  object 
of  the  meeting  fully  known  to  them,  instruments  to  carry 
the  pet  idea  on  the  high  road  to  fortune." 

He  declared  in  the  same  response  that  in  his  remarks  he 
was  "  not  confined  to  any  one  class  of  hobbyists  and  one- 
ideaists,  but  to  all  classes."  Still,  a  majority  of  the  north- 
ern people  were  so  full  of  the  one  idea  of  the  political, 
moral,  and  religious  sinfulness  of  slavery,  that  they  very 
generally  understood  his  "  remarks"  to  refer  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  that  subject  in  his  periodical.  And  not  only 
so,  but  many  of  the  most  ultra  persistently  construed  him 
as  leaning  very  much  toward  the  advocates  of  slavery, 
while  others  did  not  scruple  to  declare  that  his  course 
was  dictated  by  a  large  subscription  to  his  periodical  from 
the  South.  This  latter  assertion  was  in  willful  ignorance 
of  the  fact,  perfectly  understood  by  Mr.  Franklin  himself, 
that  his  financial  interest  at  the  time  lay  in  the  conciliation 
of  his  brethren  in  the  North.  He  lost,  as  he  knew  before 
announcing  his  position  that  he  would,  more  subscribers 
in  the  North  than  he  gained  in  the  South.  But  when  his 
mind  was  fixed  in  a  conviction  on  a  matter  of  principle  he 
never  stopped  to  couut  the  numbers  on  this  side  or  that, 
nor  to  ninke  an  estimate  of  the  dollars  and  cents  involved 
in  the  course  he  might  pursue. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  not  a  pro-slavery  man.  His 
friends  in  the  South,  as  we  shall  presently  find  occasion 


\ 

286  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

to  show,  did  not  so  regard  him.  He  never  made,  nor  did 
his  friends  ever  expect  him  to  make,  any  "apology"  for 
slavery.  He  was  simply  fixed  in  the  belief,  common  to 
nine-tenths  of  the  leading  men  of  the  Reformation  prior 
to  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  that  it  was 
purely  a  question  of  politics,  and  not  of  religion.  Un- 
shaken by  the  political  upheaval  of  the  times,  he  stood 
by  his  conviction  entertained  many  years  before  the  fiery 
trial  which,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  was  to  test  its 
strength. 

But  the  reader  is  not  to  infer  that  Mr.  Franklin's  course 
destroyed  the  circulation  of  his  paper  in  the  North.  On 
the  contrary,  he  maintained  a  larger  circulation  in  this 
section  than  was  ever  reached  by  an  opposition  periodical 
which  was  so  pronounced  in  its  anti-slavery  sentiments 
that  it  could  not  circulate  at  all  south  of  the  Ohio  River. 
Nor  was  this  circulation  confined  to  one  of  the  political 
parties  in  the  North.  In  some  neighborhoods,  where  pub- 
lic opinion  was  very  ultra,  the  paper  was  generally  discon- 
tinued, while  in  many  others  it  was  not  at  all  affected. 
On  the  other  hand,  his  position  was  not  so  favorably  con- 
strued in  the  South  as  to  gain  him  any  considerable 
increase  of  the  number  of  his  subscribers  in  that  section. 

When  the  war  began,  the  question,  "  Shall  Christians 
go  to  War?"  again  became  a  practical  question.  The 
Review  stood  squarely  on  the  negative.  On  the  16th  of 
April,  1861,  the  subject  was  introduced  in  a  communica- 
tion from  J.  W.  McGarvey,  in  which  he  said  : 

"  I  know  not  what  course  other  preachers  are  going  to 
pursue,  for  they  have  not  spoken  ;  but  my  own  duty  is 
now  clear,  and  my  policy  is  fixed.  I  shall  vote,  when 
called  upon,  according  to  my  views  of  political  policy, 
and,  whether  I  remain  a  citizen  of  this  Union,  or  become 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  287 

a  citizen  of  a  Southern  Confederacy,  my  feelings  toward 
my  brethren  everywhere  shall  know  no  change.  In  the 
meantime,  if  the  demon  of  war  is  let  loose  in  the  land,  I 
shall  proclaim  to  my  brethren  the  peaceable  command- 
ments of  my  Saviour,  and  strain  every  nerve  to  prevent 
them  from  joining  any  sort  of  military  company,  or  making 
any  warlike  preparations  at  all.  I  know  that  this  course 
will  be  unpopular  with  men  of  the  world,  and  especially 
with  political  and  military  leaders  ;  and  thero  are  some 
who  might  style  it  treason.  But  I  would  rather,  ten 
thousand  times,  be  killed  for  refusing  to  fight,  than  to  fall 
in  battle,  or  to  come  home  victorious  with  the  blood  of 
my  brethren  on  my  hands." 

The  editor  of  the  Review  was  equally  pronounced  in  his 
views.  Commenting  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Garvey's 
letter,  he  said  : 

"We  cannot  always  tell  what  we  will,  or  w ill  not  do. 
There  is  one  thing,  however  things  may  turn,  or  whatever 
may  come,  that  we  will  not  do,  and  that  is,  we  will  not  take 
up  arms  against,  fight  and  hill  the  brethren  we  have  labored 
for  twenty-years  to  bring  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Property  may  be  destroyed,  and  safety  may  be  endan- 
gered, or  life  lost;  but  we  are  under  Christ,  and  we  will 
not  kill  or  encourage  others  to  kill,  or  fight  the  brethren. " 

The  excitement  during  the  remainder  of  that  year  was 
such  as  very  few  who  witnessed  it  would  be  willing  to 
pass  through  again.  The  pressure  upon  the  editor  was 
as  heavy  as  mortal  ever  endured.  All  shades  of  views 
were  entertained  by  different  men,  and  many  clamored  for 
space  in  the  Review  to  declare  their  views.  The  editor, 
however,  vigorously  ruled  it  down  to  its  work  as  a  religi- 
ous paper.  Two  weeks  after  the  above  announcement  of 
anti-war  sentiments  and  purposes,  he  said  : 


288  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES   OF 

"  The  apostles  fixed  their  eyes  on  their  one  great  work 
— their  sreat  mission  from  God— to  turn  the  world  to 
Christ— to  turn  all  men  to  Christ,  no  matter  of  what 
nation,  of  what  politics,  or  what  form  of  government — no 
matter  whether  bound  or  free,  rich  or  poor,  high  or  low, 
and  unite  them  in  one  body  under  Christ.  This  is  our 
work — our  mission — and  for  this  we  will  work,  and  from 
this  we  will  not  be  drawn  aside.  For  this  purpose  and 
for  this  work,  what  ability,  power  and  influence  we  may 
have  has  been  given  to  us  by  the  Lord  and  to  his  people. 
For  this  purpose  the  Review  has  been  established,  and  to 
this  work,  the  Lord  helping  us,  it  shall  be  devoted,  and 
from  this  purpose  it  shall  not  be  diverted.  To  divert  it 
from  this  purpose  and  devote  it  to  politics,  or  any  other 
purpose,  we  care  not  how  good,  how  correct  and  proper 
it  may  be  in  itself,  would  be  a  betrayal  of  the  holy  trust 
committed  to  our  hands  by  the  Lord  and  his  people.  We 
shall,  therefore,  hold  it  sacredly  to  the  work  for  which  it 
has  been  established,  and  thus  far  so  liberally  supported. 
It  shall  stand  or  fall  on  its  own  merits,  as  a  religious  pub- 
lication, devoted  wholly  to  the  interests  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  shall  not  be  contaminated  with  the  political 
news,  war  news,  or  commercial  news.  We  shall  care  for 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  people  of  God,  and  do  our 
utmost  to  promote  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men. 
We  have  not  so  far  lost  confidence  in  the  religion  of  the 
brethren,  as  to  believe  they  will  not  sustain  a  religious 
publication  unless  seasoned,  spiced,  salted  and  peppered 
all  over  it,  round  it  and  through  it,  with  politics,  war 
news,  commerce,  and  all  the  other  appurtenances  and 
appliances  of  the  world. "* 

*The  Review,  up  to  the  date  of  the  above  extract  and  for  some  years  after- 
ward, contained  scarcely  two  columns  of  advertisements,  and  these  were 
advertisements  of  religious  books  and  of  colleges. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  289 

The  meaning  of  this  was  such  as  to  exclude  the  most 
exciting  topic  of  the  times — "  The  War."  From  its  issues 
one  would  scarcely  know  that  a  war  was  in  progress. 
The  question,  "  Shall  Christians  go  to  War?"  was  dis- 
cussed without  reference  to  the  existing  war.  Whoever 
lugged  into  an  article  the  question  at  issue  between  the 
two  sections  of  the  country  was  sure  to  have  his  article 
rejected. 

It  was  not  long  until  anti-war  sentiments,  thus  publicly 
advocated  were  held  to  discourage  enlistments  in  the 
army — thus  making  it  "  constructive  treason."  The  dis- 
cussion was  then  stopped  by  the  editor,  but  not  until  par- 
tisan feeling  had  gone  so  far  as  to  suggest  the  sacking  of 
the  Review  office.  Fortunately  there  was  no  mob  at  hand 
to  act  upon  the  suggestion,  and  no  violence  was  done. 

The  outcry  of  politico-ecclesiastics  had  its  effect,  and 
many  friends  of  the  Review  turned  away  from  it,  or  slack- 
ened their  zeal  in  its  support.  Business  was  paralyzed 
during  the  first  two  years  of  the  war,  and  hindered  all  re- 
ligious enterprises.  The  Southern  mails  were  cut  off,  so 
that  subscribers  in  the  Southern  States  could  not  get  their 
papers.  These  three  influences  operated  against  the  Re- 
view until  finally  its  circulation  was  cut  clown  to  less  than 
one-half  what  it  was  just  before  the  war.  Prices  of  all 
printing  materials  ruled  very  high,  and  for  four  years  the 
periodical  barely  paid  expenses.  The  anxiety  and  exer- 
tions of  its  editor  were  so  great  that  his  spirit  flagged,  his 
health  failed,  and  he  turned  prematurely  gray  at  fifty. 
But  Benjamin  Franklin's  work  was  not  yet  done,  and  God 
strengthened  him  for  other  great  achievements. 

Perhaps  the  only  manual  labor  performed  by  Mr.  Frank- 
lin after  he  moved  to  Cincinnati  was  done  in  1862.  A 
Confederate  army  menaced  the  city,  and  active  preparations 


290  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

were  made  for  its  defence.  Every  able-bodied  man  was 
pressed  into  the  service  and  compelled  to  work  on  the  en- 
trenchments. Mr.  Franklin  came  home  from  a  meeting 
just  in  this  crisis  of  affairs,  and  was  marched  to  the  hills 
back  of  Covington,  where,  with  pick-axe  and  shovel,  if  he 
did  not  accomplish  much  for  the  defence  of  the  city,  he  at 
least  blistered  his  hands  and  stiffened  his  joints,  feeding, 
meanwhile,  on  soldier's  rations  and  resting  upon  the 
ground.  He  was  willing  to  and  did  submit  to  the  author- 
ities in  everything  except  in  fighting.  When  the  excite- 
ment was  at  the  highest  against  him  he  was  preaching  in 
Illinois.  It  was  reported  to  him  that  there  was  much 
threatening  in  the  place  to  require  him  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  United  States.  "Tell  them  to  come  on 
with  an  officer,"  said  he,  smiling  as  if  it  were  a  capital 
joke.  "1  am  willing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
Uncle  Sam  every  morning,  if  necessary." 

At  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Richmond,  Ky.,  he  was  en- 
gaged in  a  protracted  meeting  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  a  church 
situated  about  seven  miles  from  Richmond.  The  whole 
country  around  was  in  a  fever  of  excitement  in  anticipa- 
tion of  a  battle.  But  day  and  night  a  large  audience 
gathered  to  hear  the  favorite  preacher.  One  morning,  as 
the  people  were  assembling,  the  sound  of  cannon  announced 
that  the  contest  had  begun.  He  went  through  the  meet- 
ing  as  usual,  and  on  the  dismission  of  the  audience  it  was 
learned  that  the  Federal  army  was  defeated  and  in  a  panic. 
He  went  with  some  family  home  for  dinner,  but  the  situa- 
tion was  worse  than  some  of  them  had  anticipated.  All 
the  men  in  the  neighborhood  saddled  their  horses  and 
galloped  away,  trusting  to  the  gallantry  of  the  soldiers  for 
the  protection  of  their  families.  Some  friendly  person 
furnished  Mr.  Franklin  with  a  horse  and  woman's  saddle, 


ELDER  B£XJAMIX   FRANKLIN.  291 

upon  which  he  mounted,  and  was  piloted  down  ravines 
and  along  by-ways  until  he  was  safely  landed  north  of  the 
Kentucky  river  and  within  the  Union  lines  again.  On 
learn  ins:  that  there  were  Confederate  forces  between  him 
and  Cincinnati,  so  that  he  could  nut  safely  return  towards 
home,  he  took  cars  for  Louisville,  crossed  into  Indiana, 
and  in  three  or  four  days  was  preaching  as  composedly  as 
if  nothing  unusual  had  occurred. 

It  chanced  that  his  next  appointment  was  in  the  county 
where  he  died.  Those  who  had  made  the  arrangements 
for  the  meeting  were  for  the  most  part  "opposed  to  this 
war,"  and  to  the  administration  under  which  it  was  waged. 
These  persons  mistook  his  position  as  coinciding  with 
theirs,  and  had  intimated  as  much  in  the  community.  On 
approaching  him  and  expecting  political  sympathy  they 
soon  learned  of  their  mistake,  and  were  glad  thereafter  to 
give  attention  to  the  meeting  "and  let  politics  alone." 
His  preaching  made  no  account  whatever  of  the  political 
state  of  the  country.  His  prayers  were  not  for  the  success 
of  either  party,  but  that  the  Lord  would  overrule  the  wrath 
of  man,  cause  war  to  cease,  and  bring  good  out  of  evil. 
As  a  man  and  a  citizen  he  had  his  political  views,  and  none 
who  approached  him  ever  had  any  difficulty  in  learning 
what  they  were. 

We  cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than  by  giving  the 
following  extract  from  a  series  of  letters  concernino;  Ben- 
jamin  Franklin,  written  after  his  death  and  published  in 
the  Apostolic  Times,  of  Lexington,  Kentucky.  The  let- 
ters were  written  by  S.  W.  Crutcher,  of  Maysville,  a 
preacher  who  knew  Mr.  Franklin  well,  and  was  with  him 
a  great  deal.  Notwithstanding  a  considerable  disparity 
of  age,  the  two  were  intimate  friends,  and  in  constant  com- 
munication until  separated  by  death.    Mr.  Crutcher  says  : 


292  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

"  It  has  been  thought  strange  by  some  of  our  brethren 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Ohio  River,  that  brother  Franklin 
preached  all  over  Kentucky  during  the  late  civil  war. 
Some  have  said  that  this  could  not  have  been  done  without 
having  practiced  duplicity  on  political  topics  while  in  Ken- 
tucky. Justice  to  him  demands  a  word  from  me  on  this 
subject. 

"  He  was  always  candid  and  made  no  concealments  as 
to  his  political  views.  ****** 

"  We  received  him  in  Kentucky  because  he  refused  to 
preach  politics  or  to  allow  his  paper  to  be  used  as  the  organ 
of  a  political  party ." 

Mr.  Franklin  was  a  law-abiding  citizen  of  the. United 
States,  who  went  both  north  and  south  preaching  peace 
by  Jesus  Christ,  who  labored  incessantly  for  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  all  mankind.  He  was  strictly  and  truly 
a  man  of  God,  and  not  of  the  world.  His  citizenship  was 
in  Heaven,  and  not  on  earth.  He  deplored  the  late  civil 
war,  and  wept  over  it  as  much  as  any  man  could  and 
ought  to  do. 

He  profoundly  regretted  that  his  southern  brethren  were 
encased  in  rebellion,  and  that  his  brethren  of  the  north 
were  waging  deadly  warfare  against  them. 

His  counsels  were  for  peace,  and  an  amicable  adjust- 
ment of  all  difficulties. 

He  plead  for  the  rights  and  privileges  of  all  men, 
whether  of  this  nation  or  that,  whether  bond  or  Tree,  He 
moved  and  walked,  not  upon  the  plane  of  politics,  but 
lived  and  moved  upon  the  lofty  plane  of  Christian  philan- 
thropy. The  great  question  with  him  was,  "  Does  God 
approve?"  To  God  he  expected  to  finally  account,  and 
not  to  men. 

He  was  a  popular  preacher  and  writer,  before  the  war, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  293 

during  the  war  and  after  the  war,  both  north  and  south, 
east  and  west,  on  account  of  his  unselfish  and  benevolent 
nature,  and  his  unswerving  devotion  to  justice  and  truth. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

/  I  \HE  Publication  Society  was  not  long  in  making  the 
JL  discovery  that  it  could  not  profitably  publish  a  peri- 
odical. The  Christian  Age  was  turned  over  to  an 
individual  ownership,  which,  by  the  end  of  the  year  1857, 
found  that  this  journal,  without  Benjamin  Franklin  at  the 
head  of  it,  was  "like  the  play  of  Hamlet  with  Hamlet  left 
out."  The  fact  that  Mr.  Franklin  was  publishing  another 
periodical  had  become  well-known,  and  the  Age  languished 
and  was  ready  to  die  for  want  of  support.  In  this  state  of 
the  case,  terms  were  easily  made  which  authorized  the  editor 
of  the  Review  to  announce  in  August,  that  the  Age  and 
Review  were  to  be  one  after  January,  1858.  At  the  end 
of  the  volume  he  said  :  "We  are  now  in  some  two  weeks 
of  the  commencement  of  our  enlarged  weekly,  called  *  The 
American  Christian  Review.'  The  monthly  pamphlet 
and  the  weekly  Christian  ^eboth  stop  at  the  end  of  this 
year,  and  will  be  succeeded  by  the  enlarged  weekly. 
Those  who  are  subscribers  to  the  Age,  and  have  paid  into 
next  year,  after  January  1st,  will  receive  the  enlarged 
weekly  in  the  place  of  the  Age  till  their  time  is  out.  Some 
few  have  paid  in  advance  for  the  monthly.  These  will 
receive  the  weekly  until  they  will  have  the  worth  of  their 
money."  Accordingly  on  the  5th  of  January,  1858,  the 
first  number  of  a  weekly  folio  sheet  appeared.  It  was 
marked  "Vol.  I,  No.  1,"  and  is  the  number  from  which 
the  issues  of  the  Review  were  counted  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Franklin's  death.  Moses  E.  Lard,  Charles  L.  Loos,  John 
Rogers,  Isaac  Errett  and  Elijah  Goodwin  were  announced 


THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN.  295 

at  the  head  of  the  paper  as  "regular  contributors."  To 
the  name  of  each  was  prefixed  the  title,  "Eld.,"  then 
almost  universally  current  among  the  Disciples.  The 
second  and  fourth  of  these  names  were  left  off  after  the 
middle  of  that  year,  and  the  other  three  at  the  beginning 
of  the  next  year.  The  folio  form  in  which  it  appeared  at 
this  time  was  so  large  that  the  quantity  of  matter  contained 
in  it  fell  only  twenty  per  cent  below  that  of  the  quarto  form 
to  which  it  was  changed  a  few  years  later,  and  in  which 
thereafter  it  continued  to  be  published.  The  enlarged 
Review  wsls  wholly  under  Mr.  Franklin's  control.  He  was 
the  entire  owner  for  some  years  ;  but  it  was  a  rapidly 
increasing  business  and  soon  grew  so  large  that  he  was 
compelled  to  intrust  the  business  management  largely  to 
other  hands.  George  W.  Rice  came  into  the  office  as  an 
assistant,  and  after  acquiring  a  complete  knowledge  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Review,  took  a  partnership  interest  of  one- 
half  the  concern.  From  this  time  the  business  was  done 
in  the  name  of  "Franklin  &Rice,"  and  included  not  only 
the  publication  of  the  periodical,  but  also  of  sundry  books, 
tracts,  etc.,  and  especially  those  of  which  Mr.  Franklin 
was  the  author. 

Mr.  Rice  had  been  a  Disciple  for  many  years,  and 
understood  the  history  of  the  Reformation  from  the 
beginning.  He  was  an  overseer  in  the  Clinton  Street 
Church  during  its  existence,  and  afterwards  of  the  Sixth 
Street  Church  ;  and,  until  the  labors  of  the  Heview  office 
became  so  great  as  to  forbid  any  preparation,  preached  in 
these  churches,  or  in  some  one  of  the  suburban  churches 
or  mission  stations,  almost  every  Sunday.  For  some  time 
he  was  assistant  editor,  and  the  heading  announced  that 
the  paper  was  "Edited  and  Published  by  Franklin  & 
Rice."     The  selection  and  arrangement  of  all  the  mutter 


296  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

of  the  paper,  except  the  editorial  and  correspondence, 
were  always  left  to  him.  The  communications  of  well- 
known  contributors  he  inserted  at  once,  but  anything  of 
doubtful  propriety  had  to  be  inspected  by  the  senior  editor. 
Mr.  Franklin  had  absolute  control  of  the  editorial  manage- 
ment to  the  day  of  his  death  ;  but,  on  the  failure  of  his 
health,  sold  out  his  pecuniary  interest  in  the  office  to  Mr. 
Rice,  and  thereafter  received  only  a  salary  for  his  services 
as  editor  and  for  the  books  which  he  wrote.  For  some 
years  a  " Missouri  Department"  in  the  paper  was  edited 
by  J.  A.  Headington,  and  after  its  abandonment  he  became 
assistant  editor.  John  F.  Rowe*  was  for  several  years 
also  assistant  editor,  but  there  was  an  interruption  of  two 
years  in  his  relation  to  the  paper.  Mr.  Franklin's  eldest 
son  was  likewise  for  a  time  announced  as  "assistant  editor." 
Perhaps,  (if  there  be  any  exact  terms  among  journalists 
to  meet  these  cases),  these  persons  might  more  properly 
have  been  called  corresponding  editors,  or  simply  regular 
contributors ;  for  they  did  nothing  but  write  articles  for 
the  paper. 

The  reader  may  now  be  interested  to  note  that  there 
was  a  historic  connection  in  all  Benjamin  Franklin's  peri- 
odical publications  from  first  to  last.  The  Reformer  was 
enlarged  and  the  name  changed  to  The  Western  Reformer . 
The  absorption  of  Mr.  Hall's  periodical  gave  the  occasion 
for  changing  the  name  again  to  the  Proclamation  and  Re- 
former, This  was  merged  into  The  Christian  Age  after 
the  simultaneous  publication  of  the  two  papers  for  two 
years  b}'  Burnet  and  Franklin.  And  finally,  the  Age, 
after  sundry  mutations  of  ownership  and  management, 
was  merged  into  the  American  Christian  Review. 


*  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Franklin  the  Review  was  continued  under  the 
management  of  Mr,  Howe. 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  297 

We  have  frequently  referred  on  these  pages  to  the 
"  American  Bible  Union."  We  must  now  give  some 
account  of  this  society,  as  it  was  a  prominent  religious 
enterprise  of  those  times,  and  most  zealously  advocated 
by  Benjamin  Franklin  for  many  years. 

The  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was,  in  1847, 
and  for  one  or  two  years  afterward,  besought  to  revise  the 
King  James'  Version  of  the  Bible,  and  at  least  to  correct 
it  where  the  language  is  not  modern  English,  and  to 
translate  words  which  are,  in  the  received  version,  only 
transferred  and  anglicised.  Dr.  Luke  Barker,  a  promi- 
nent officer  of  the  society  at  the  time,  agreed  to  pay  the 
entire  expense  of  such  an  emendation  if  the  society  would 
only  legalize  the  enterprise.  The  doctor  dying  suddenly, 
another  officer  made  the  same  proposition.  The  society 
rejected  the  proposal  by  a  vote  of  three  to  one,  and  at  the 
next  election  left  out  every  one  of  the  officers  who  had 
favored  the  revision  except  Dr.  Cone  ;  and  it  was  believed 
that  he  was  only  re-elected  as  a  stroke  of  policy,  it  being 
generally  understood  that  he  would  resign  if  re-elected. 
The  Board  of  Managers,  in  April,  1838,  passed  the 
following: 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures 
in  the  English  language,  they  will  use  the  common  version 
until  otherwise  directed  by  the  Society.' ' 

The  immense  increase  in  immersionist  churches 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  their  demand  for 
a  translation  that  would  refer  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism 
in  the  English  language,  made  the  Board  afraid  to  venture 
into  the  work  of  revision.  On  the  23d  of  May,  1850,  the 
following  was  passed  : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  society,  in  its  issues  and  circula- 
tion   of    the    English    Scriptures,    be    restricted    to    the 

commonly  received  version  without  note  or  comment. " 
14 


298  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

This  was  a  change  in  the  society,  which  blasted  all  hope 
of  a  revision  of  I  he  Scriptures  by  its  authority.  The 
friends  of  a  revised  version,  therefore,  withdrew  from  it 
and  organized,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1850,  the  "American 
Bible  Union."  The  second  article  in  the  constitution  of 
this  new  society  set  forth  that,  M  Its  object  shall  be  to 
procure  and  circulate  the  most  faithful  versions  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  in  all  languages  throughout  the  world." 

The  feeling  of  almost  the  entire  Baptist  people  in  this 
country,  and  of  the  whole  body  of  the  Disciples,  was  one 
of  righteous  indignation,  and,  although  expressed  by  a 
multitude  of  persons  and  through  every  available  means 
of  communication,  by  none  more  forcibly  and  elegantly 
than  by  Dr.  Lynd,  President  of  the  Western  Theological 
Institute  of  Kentucky,  in  an  address  delivered  before  the 
American  Bible  Union.     He  said  : 

"When  the  American  Bible  Society  adopted  a  rule, 
that  all  translations  made  into  foreign  tongues,  in  order 
to  be  aided  by  their  appropriations,  must  be  conformed  to 
the  English  version  in  common  use,  at  least  so  far  as  that 
all  denominations  could  use  them  ;  a  rule  that,  in  my 
opinion,  insults  the  Holy  Spirit  by  requiring  his  truth  to 
be  concealed  from  men  to  accommodate  sectarian  views  ; 
and  when  the  Baptist  denomination,  almost  to  a  man, 
repudiated  the  rule  and  resolved  to  give  the  word  of  God 
to  the  nations,  in  perspicuous  and  faithful  translation,  my 
mind  was  still  further  prepared,  to  desire  an  English  Bible 
upon  the  sjime  principle.  But  how  it  was  to  be  brought 
about  I  could  not  perceive.  My  reliance,  however,  was 
upon  the  over  rulings  of  Divine  Providence. 

"Events  to  which  I  need  not  now  refer,  which  are 
matters  of  history,  have  been  overruled  to  bring  into 
existence  the  organized  enterprise  of  revision.     That  it 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  299 

has  an  existence  cannot  be  doubted.  That  it  is  sustained 
by  a  very  huge  body  of  professing  Christians,  is  clear  to 
those  who  have  informed  themselves.  That  some  of  the 
ablest  men  in  the  ranks  of  the  ministry  are  firm  in  its 
support,  will  be  questioned  only  by  the  ignorant  or 
partisan. 

"  Watever  may  have  been  its  origin,  and  whatever  the 
excitement  which  at  first  it  produced,  it  must  now  be 
treated  on  the  ground  of  its  own  merits. " 

Benjamin  Franklin  gave  it  his  emphatic  approval  at  the 
outset,  and  expressed  the  highest  hopes  of  the  results  in 
the  following  language,  published  in  the  Proclamation 
and  Reformer  for  1850  : 

"  But  we  have  taken  the  position  that  the  "  Bible 
Union"  comes  from  the  proper  source,  and  the  only 
source  from  which  a  new  translation  can  come.  We  do 
not  mean  the  few  who  are  now  enlisted  in  the  Bible  Union, 
but  we  mean  these  and  those  who  stand  ready  to  co-operate 
with  them  in  this  great  work.  For,  if  we  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  movement  of  these  worthy  brethren,  it  is 
not  to  get  a  Baptist  translation,  but  to  call  into  service  as 
many  from  every  direction  as  possible,  and  select  from 
anions  them  a  large  number  of  the  most  learned  and 
faithful  men  in  the  World,  with  the  distinct  understanding 
that  they  do  their  utmost  to  give  a  faithful  translation  to 
the  world.  If  we  understand  it,  the  Bible  Union  invites 
all  the  Protestants  to  give  their  aid,  and  the  way  is  now 
open  for  all.  It  is  true,  all  are  not  expected,  not,  how- 
ever,  because  all  are  not  desired.  We  do  hope,  nothing 
may  occur  to  give  it  a  partisan  appearance  or  bearing,  and 
that  all  who  enlist  in  this  great  work  will  pray  the  Lord 
of  all  wisdom  to  bless  them,  and  enable  them  to  give  the 
English  reader  what  he  has   never  had  before,  the  pure 


300  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

Word  of  God,  translated   throughout   into   the    English 
language." 

A  year  later,  and  after  the  enterprise  was  fairly  estab- 
lished, he  again  wrote  of  it : 

"  We  look  not  upon  the  circumstance  of  getting  a  new 
and  better  translation  as  the  only  thing  to  be  achieved  in 
the  Bible  Union  movement,  but  we  look  for  other  results 
of  a  lasting  and  most  beneficient  kind.  It  cannot  be  other- 
wise  than  that  the  careful  reading  of  the  original,  and 
closely  criticising  every  phrase  and  word,  not  to  sustain 
any  favorite  theory,  but  to  understand  what  God  means, 
and  then  to  express  it  in  the  most  accurate  and  clear  man- 
ner in  the  English,  will  lead  to  a  great  unanimity  of  spirit 
and  feeling,  and  can  but  lead  those  who  engage  in  the 
work  to  commit  themselves  so  perfectly  to  the  Bible,  that 
they  will  consider  their  all  identified  with  it,  and  will  be 
willing  to  follow  wherever  it  may  lead  ;  and  our  hope 
and  prayer  to  God  is  that  it  may  be  a  Bible  Union  that 
shall  unite  all  the  children  of  God." 

The  Disciples  generally  regarded  the  revision  as  of  so 
much  importance,  so  obviously  necessary  a  work  in  the 
advanced  state  of  the  English  language,  and  believed  that 
the  plan  for  its  accomplishment  was  so  manifestly  the  very 
best  that  could  be  adopted,  that  all  Protestant  Christen- 
dom would  shortly  join  in  it. 

But  these  high  hopes  were  not  to  be  realized.  There 
was,  indeed,  from  the  first,  a  dignity  of  learning  and  ex- 
perience connected  with  it  that  ought  to  have  commanded 
respect.  The  organization  of  the  Union  was,  however, 
met  with  a  sneer,  and  when  it  rapidly  grew  to  such  pro- 
portions as  to  command  attention,  all  the  hackneyed  ob- 
jections used  when  "  the  commonly  received  version, " 
was  a  "  new  version,"  were  revived  and  paraded  as  ar- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  301 

guments  against  it.  The  announcement  of  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  revision  association  to  be  held  in  April, 
1856,  in  Louisville,  brought  forth  a  solemn  warning  from 
five  of  the  leading  pastors  of  the  city.  It  was  published 
in  the  Courier,  and  occupied  nearly  two  columns  closely 
printed  matter.  They  soelmnly  warned  their  people  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  The  movement  was  "  sec- 
tarian,"  it  meant  that  "  baptize  was  to  be  translated  im- 
merse," and  there  were  but  very  few  wrho  would  have 
anything  to  do  with  it.  The  solemn  dignity  of  the  pas- 
toral warning  excited  the  curiosity  of  their  flocks  to  know 
wh;it  it  was  all  about,  and  a  very  large  annual  meeting 
was  the  result.  A  congress  of  the  clergy  of  Louisville 
selected  five  of  their  number  to  prepare  responses  to  ar- 
ticles in  favor  of  revision,  written  by  "two  laymen." 
These  articles  and  responses  were  published  in  the  Louis- 
ville secular  papers,  and  afterward  in  a  book  which  was 
largely  circulated  as  a  revision  document.  The  defection 
of  two  members  of  the  Union  was  seized  upon  by  the  ene- 
mies of  revision  as  an  evidence  that  the  enterprise  was 
about  to  prove  a  failure. 

The  Bible  Union  went  regularly,  but  slowly,  on  with  its 
work,  and  finally  issued  a  complete  version  of  the  New 
Testament,  in  1865.  Incomplete  versions  of  many  parts 
of  the  Old  Testament,  with  critical  notes,  were  also  pub- 
lished. The  long  delay  of  the  completion  of  its  work 
wearied  the  patience  of  many  friends  of  the  Union,  and 
as  the  opposition  was  so  determined  that  it  could  never 
make  a  version  that  would  be  regarded  as  authoritative, 
the  public  interest  in  it  fell  off,  and  little  attention  was 
given  to  it  after  the  publication  of  the  complete  New  Tes- 
tament. 

The  American  Christian  Bible  Society  at  once  turned  to 


302  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

the  American  Bible  Union,  as  the  direction  in  which  all 
its  energies  could  best  be  expended.  In  1856  the  Bible 
Union  was  well-known  among  the  Disciples,  and  was  re- 
ceiving very  large  direct  contributions  from  them.  The 
Bible  Society  w7as  therefore  dissolved. 

As  has  been  already  observed,  at  the  time  of  the  disso- 
lution of  the  Bible  and  Publication  Societies  in  1856,  gen- 
eral attention  was  turned  to  the  American  Christian  Mis- 
sionary Society. 

Something  more  than  simply  the  more  extended  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  at  home  and  abroad,  served  to  make 
this  Society  what  it  grew  and  continued  to  be  during  the 
fifteen  years  following.  A  very  large  number  of  those 
who  attended  its  meetings  most  probably  did  so  because 
they  were  charmed  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  numbers 
present,  and  the  hearty  fellowship  which  they  for  many 
years  continued  to  enjoy  while  together.  These  were 
agreed  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Bible  and  Publication  So- 
cieties, or  any  other  modifications  that  would  leave  to  them 
the  happy  anniversary.  Others,  while  enjoying  the  gen- 
eral happiness  of  the  meetings,  looked  confidently  to  the 
Society  as  the  very  best  possible  plan  for  carrying  on  the 
evangelization  of  the  world,  or,  as  it  by  this  time  began 
to  be  called,  "  the  missionary  work."  Among  these  we 
may  include  Benjamin  Franklin. 

But  there  was  one  feature  of  the  situation  at  this  time 
which  Mr.  Franklin  certainly  did  not  clearly  comprehend. 
His  attention  was  fixed  upon  the  work  proposed  to  be 
done,  and  he  viewed  the  Society  as  simply  an  expedient 
for  the  accomplishment  of  that  work.  Pie  had,  in  all  his 
religious  experiences,  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  absolute 
congregational  freedom,  and  was  very  slow  to  suspect 
that  any  of  his  brethren  contemplated  anv  interference 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  303 

therewith.  He  seems  not  to  have  realized,  until  fully  ten 
years  later,  that  a  considerable  number  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  Reformation  looked  upon  it  as  existing  in  a  dis- 
organized condition.  They  held  that  the  "  Christian 
Church  "*  needed,  more  than  it  needed  anything  else,  such 
a  centralization  of  forces,  in  some  kind  of  representative 
assembly,  as  would  be  competent  to  give  expression  to 
the  denominational  mind  on  any  occasion  which  might 
seem  to  demand  such  an  expression*  These  persons 
looked  to  the  Missionary  Society  as  the  means  of  "  or- 
ganizing" the  Reformation.  They  doubtless  took  as 
much  interest  in  the  missionary  work  as  the  average  mem- 
bership did,  but  hoped,  in  addition  to  that  work,  to  con- 
centrate and  give  tone  to  the  elements  now  composing  the 
"Christian  Church." 

This  conception  of  the  state  of  the  case  among  the  Dis- 
ciples, gave  rise  to  several  movements  among  them 
not  otherwise  to  be  understood.  We  instance  the  fol- 
lowing : 

In  the  autumn  of  1855,  a  meeting  was  held  in  Ken- 
tucky, called,  "A  Convention  of  Delegates  from  Chris- 
tian Churches  of  Garrard,  Lincoln,  Casey,  Mercer  and 
Boyle  Counties,  held  in  Danville."  After  "much  discus- 
sion" a  constitution  was  "  unanimously  adopted."  The 
constitution  named  the  organization  based  upon  it,  "The 
Central  (Ky.)  Christian  Union."  The  membership  was 
to  include  all  the  preachers  in  those  counties,  one  "  elder" 
from  each  church,  and  one  representative  for  each  one 
hundred  members  of  the  churches.  The  "Union"  was 
to   receive  information    concerning  the  condition  of  the 


♦This  denominational  epithet  had  by  this  time  become  quite  current,  and 
wa«  used  in  exactly  the  sense  given  by  the  public  to  the  nicfc-name,  "  Camp- 
bellite  Church,"    Se§  £hap.  III. 


304  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

churches,  hear  any  case  which  might  be  laid  before  it, 
discipline  any  who  should  "  teach  things  tending  to  the 
injury  of  the  churches  and  the  cause  which  we  plead." 
It  was  to  "  take  into  consideration  the  subject  of  educa- 
tion, both  general  and  ministerial,"  and  "consider  and 
act  upon  plans  for  Bible  distribution,  missionary  objects, 
tract  distribution,  Sunday-schools,  and  upon  whatever 
else  may  tend  to  the  welfare  of  the  cause  of  our  Divine 
Master/'  It  was  also  to  "  co-operate  with  any  other  as- 
sociation of  our  brotherhood,  whether  district  or  State 
meeting,  or  general  convention, "  to  which  it  "  may  ap- 
point delegates." 

If  Mr.  Franklin  did  not  see  the  desire  for  "  organiza- 
tion "  manifested  in  the  Missionary  Society,  he  very  soon 
saw  it  in  this  "Union,"  and  filed  three  objections  which 
were  a  few  years  later  brought  to  bear  upon  missionary 
societies : 

"  1.  A  meeting  for  such  a  purpose  as  this  is  wholly 
uuknown  to  the  New  Testament. 

"2.  This  meeting  calls  into  existence  a  new  set  of 
officers,  wholly  unknown  to  the  New  Testament. 

"3.  The  New  Testament  knows  nothing  of  meeting 
annually  or  semi-annually,  in  the  *  Central  Christian 
Union.'  This  is  wholly  a  new  order  of  things,  and  throws 
wide  the  gate  for  all  kinds  of  mischief." 

The  comment  on  the  "Central  Christian  Union" 
concluded  with  the  following  paragraphs,  expressing 
sentiments  which  he  at  last  carried  to  an  unlimited 
application : 

"  God  has  constituted  the  Church  the  pillar  and  support 
of  the  truth,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church,  the  whole 
Church,  in  every  place,  as  the  only  organization  having 
any  authority  from  God,  to  act  for  itself  and  do  its  own 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  305 

business.  No  officer  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  has  any 
authority  over  the  Churches  or  preachers,  except  the 
officers  of  the  individual  congregations.  The  New  Testa- 
ment knows  no  jurisdiction  of  any  office  beyond  the 
individual  congregation,  except  where  an  evangelist  is 
building  up  and  establishing  new  congregations. 

"Let  the  churches  go  into  such  a  Central  Union  as 
these  brethren  have,  and  the  first  difficulty  that  shall  arise 
among  the  leading  men,  will  infuse  confusion  and  distrac- 
tion throughout  all  the  congregations  combined  in  it.  A 
general  division  cannot  take  place,  while  the  individual, 
congregational,  and,  as  we  are  confident,  the  Scriptural 
organization  prevails.  Combine  the  churches  in  an  asso- 
ciation, and  then  let  some  difficulty  occur  among  the 
leading  men,  and  they  will  sunder  the  churches  from  one 
side  of  the  country  to  the  other.' ' 

Similar  moves  were  made  in  other  places  from  time  to 
time.  A  few  preachers  always  complained  of  the  want 
of  such  a  union  as  a  state  of  anarchy.  Two  or  three  left 
the  Disciples,  contemptuously  declaring  that  they  were 
a  people  destitute  of  any  organization.  About  the  year 
1863,  an  Ohio  man  declared  that,  there  "had  been  no 
Church  of  Christ  in  Ohio  until  after  the  organization  of 
the  Ohio  State  Missionary  Society."  Another  person,  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Missionary  Society  in  its 
palmiest  days,  illustrated  his  conception  of  this  matter 
substantially  as  follows  :  When  the  thirteen  American 
Colonies  declared  their  independence  of  Great  Britain, 
the  declaration  brought  on  a  war,  during  which  a  few 
simple  Articles  of  Confederation  were  sufficient  to  hold 
them  together.  But  as  soon  as  the  outside  pressure  of 
the  war  wTas  removed,  they  began  to  feel  the  necessity  of 
a  more  perfect  union,  and  presently  ordained  the  Ameri- 


306  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES   OP 

can  Constitution.  So  the  Disciples,  in  cutting  loose  from 
the  sectarian  churches,  brought  upon  themselves  a  war 
with  those  sects,  the  pressure  of  which  had  held  them 
together  for  fifty  years.  But  after  they  had  compelled 
the  denominations  to  accord  them  a  place  among  the 
churches,  the  outside  pressure  was  removed,  and  some 
better  plan  of  uniting  themselves  together  had  become 
necessary.  The  best  plan  now  possible  among  the  Disci- 
ples, he  concluded,  was  the  American  Christian  Missionary 
Society,  with  its  State  and  District  Auxilliary  organiza- 
tions. 

There  were  many  shades  of  opinion  among  the  Disci- 
ples on  this  subject,  grading  all  the  way  from  those  who 
desired  a  general  organization  equal  in  authority  to  that 
assumed  by  the  "Central  Kentucky  Christian  Union, "  to 
those  who  simply  desired  to  see  the  leading  men  of  "the 
brotherhood"  regularly  called  together  in  a  deliberative 
body  as  a  demonstration  of  the  denominational   strength. 

At  the  time  of  the  concentration  of  means  and  of  forces 
upon  the  Missionary  Society,  C.  L.  Loos  was  made  Cor- 
responding Secretary.  In  a  very  short  time  he  resigned 
the  position  to  accept  the  presidency  of  Eureka  College, 
in  Illinois.  The  change  of  the  secretary  at  this  time  of 
the  year  greatly  perplexed  the  board  of  managers,  because 
of  the  influence  upon  the  interests  of  society,  and  also 
because  of  the  difficulty  of  filling  the  place.  At  this 
juncture,  Mr.  Franklin  became  Corresponding  Secretary, 
pro  tern.  Upon  assuming  the  duties  of  the  office,  he 
wrote  as  follows : 

"The  Bible  and  Publication  societies  being  discon- 
tinued, and  the  brethren  in  the  Anniversary,  in  this  city, 
in  October  last,  agreeing,  with  great  unanimity,  to  con- 
centrate our  energies   upon  the  Missionary  Society,  is  a 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  307 

proceeding,  so  far  as  we  are  informed,  that  meets  the 
wishes  of  the  brotherhood  at  large,  with  more  favor  and 
general  approbation  than  any  move  of  the  kind  that  has 
ever  been  made  anions:  us.  *  *  *  Things  are  now 
taking,  we  think,  a  rational  and  proper  form.  The  Bible 
Union  is  the  great  translanting,  revising,  Bible  Society, 
doing  precisely  what  we  desire  in  the  Bible  cause.  The 
Missionary  Society  is  a  medium  for  us  to  co-operate 
through,  as  a  general  body,  throughout  the  land,  in  such 
works  as  single  churches  or  individuals  cannot  do.  The 
State  Missionary  societies  open  the  way  for  the  voluntary 
contributions  to  be  combined,  united  and  concentrated  in 
sending  the  Word  to  destitute  regions,  and  penetrating 
important  points,  as  single  churches  or  individuals  could 
not  do." 

In  the  same  article  he  promised  for  the  society  that  it 
would  "\be  conducted  on  the  score  of  the  very  best 
economy,"  and  declared  that  it  was  "the  most  simple 
and  safe  arrangement  that  could  be  made,  professing  no 
authority  over  the  churches  and  interfering  nothing  with 
their  independence,  government  or  officers  in  any  way." 

The  "great  unanimity"  above  referred  to,  prevailed 
among  those  who  attended  the  anniversary  meetings.  But 
there  were  not  wanting  from  the  first  those  who  found 
objections,  both  to  the  measures  of  the  society  and  to  the 
society  itself.  The  first  attack  was  upon  "life-member- 
ship" and  "life-directorship."  These  were  soon  abol- 
ished, with  a  view  to  conciliating  persons  in  opposition. 
After  some  years  of  violent  opposition  to  it  as  a  scheme 
of  centralization,  the  "  American  Christian  Missionary 
Society"  was  virtually  dissolved,  and  a  plan  of  general 
M  church  co-operation, "  commonly  known  as  "The  Louis- 
ville Plan,"  was  adopted.     This  organization  was  called 


308  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  "  General  Christian  Missionary  Convention,' '  and  it 
was  claimed  for  it,  that,  as  a  mere  convention  of  churches, 
it  could  not  possibly  interfere  with  the  independence. of 
the  churches,  and  that  it  would  not  assume  to  act  as  a 
representative  assembly  of  "  the  brotherhood"  in  any 
matter  aside  from  the  true  missionary  work.  This  plan, 
after  several  years  of  feeble  existence,  failed  for  want  of 
support,  the  board  of  managers  having  to  draw  for  two 
years  upon  a  fund  raised  by  the  sale  of  hymn  books  for 
means  to  pay  the  Corresponding  Secretary's  salary. 

The  death  of  the  Missionary  Society  left  the  churches 
of  the  Reformation  in  precisely  the  condition  as  to  organ- 
ization, in  which  they  found  themselves  after  the  disso- 
lution of  Mahoning  Association.  There  was  no  longer 
any  representative  assembly  among  them,  and  every  con- 
gregation was  as  free  as  if  it  had  been  the  only  congrega- 
tion in  existence.  The  Disciples  again  settled  down 
upon  the  principle  of  pure  Congregationalism.  It  may  be 
understood  that  they  agree  to  the  statement  made  by 
Alexander  Campbell  in  1824,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Campbell,  himself,  partially  receded  from  it 
afterward,  that,  "An  individual  church  or  congregation  of 
Christ's  Disciples  is  the  only  ecclesiastical  body  recog- 
nized in  the  NeAV  Testament.  Such  a  society  is  "  the 
highest  court  of  Christ"  on  earth." 

Soon  after  the  time  when  the  Review  was  established  as 
a  weekly  journal,  adverse  criticisms  upon  the  literature 
of  the  Reformation  began  to  be  heard.  These  criticisms 
continued  and  increased,  until,  to  use  the  phrase  which 
presently  became  sterotyped,  "  a  higher  order  of  litera- 
ture," was  regarded  by  many  as  essential  to  the  continued 
success  of  the  cause. 

Just  what  the  defects  of  the  current  literature  were, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  309 

was  not  definitely  pointed  out ;  but  it  was  not  long  after 
the  call  for  a  higher  order  of  literature  was  made,  until 
the  frie:ids  of  the  Review  asserted  that  the  meaning  of 
the  call  was  jealousy  of  Mr.  Franklin's  popularity,  and  a 
covert  attempt  to  undermine  his  influence.  The  defects 
of  his  rhetoric  were  as  well  known  by  his  ardent  admirers 
as  by  any  other  persons,  and  by  himself  so  well  as  to 
render  him  quite  sensitive  on  that  point.  This  was  es- 
pecially the  case  when,  as  he  was  informed,  the  agents  of 
other  periodicals  urged  these  defects  against  him  and  in 
their  own  favor. 

It  was  a  question  directly  allied  to  that  of  the  cultivated 
ministry  and  the  improvement  of  the  "  music  "  in  the 
churches  and  Sunday-schools.  Those  who  were  loudest 
in  the  demand  for  a  cultivated  ministry  and  for  better 
music,  were,  of  course,  the  persons  to  demand  an  im- 
proved literature.  It  was  only  another  phase  of  the  dis- 
cussion between  liberalism  and  conservatism,  already  de- 
tailed to  the  reader.  It  was  characterized  by  the  same 
indefiniteness  as  to  the  point  involved,  and  by  the  same 
mutual  misunderstandings  and  misrepresentations.  It  is 
one  of  a  peculiar  class  of  things,  the  existence  of  which 
is  perfectly  well-known  and  yet  may  not  be  formally  es- 
tablished. It  is  a  case  in  which  individuals  may  be  mor- 
ally certain  and  yet  lacking  in  legal  proofs.  The  situa- 
tion is  analogous  to  that  of  the  teacher,  who  is  perfectly 
conscious  of  a  temporary  demoralization  in  his  school,  and 
yet  on  looking  about  for  the  responsible  parties,  finds 
no  one  guilty  of  any  such  misdemeanors  that  he  can 
be  justly  punished.  On  the  subject  in  haud  let  us  in- 
quire : 

1.  Did  the  higher  order  of  literature  mean  a  greater 
degree  of  literary  culture  in  religious  scribes?     The  writ- 


310  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

ings  of  Alexander  Campbell  and  Walter  Scott  were  among 
the  standard  literature.  These  compare  favorably  with 
the  works  of  professional  litterateurs.  A  large  majority 
of  the  contributors  to  the  periodical  literature  of  the  time 
we  are  treating  of,  were  graduates  of  Bethany  or  other 
colleges.  A  page  of  this  book  would  not  contain  the 
names  of  the  scholars  whose  contributions  tilled  the  col- 
umns of  the  Age  and  the  Review,  and  who  wrote  the 
books  issued  from  1850  to  1870.  But  the  editor  of  those 
journals  was  not  a  scholar.  He  was  immensely  popular 
—  more  so  than  any  scholar  left,  when  Alexander  Camp- 
bell failed.  He  wrote  a  language  that  everybody  per- 
fectly understood,  and  the  masses  of  the  people  read  his 
writings.  But  any  smart  school-boy  could  find  many 
defects  in  his  grammar.  If,  then,  mere  literary  culture  was 
the  point,  there  was  good  reason  to  suspect  that  the  agita- 
tion of  the  subject  at  that  time  was  a  personal  thrust  at 
the  editor  of  the  JReview. 

2.  Was  it  the  tone  of  the  literature  that  required  eleva- 
tion? The  Disciples  generally  were  a  people  of  strong 
convictions.  They  believed  that  they  Avere  right,  and  that 
their  convictions  were  worth  an  earnest  defense  and  advo- 
cacy. They  were  equally  settled  in  the  belief  that  those 
who  differed  from  them  were  wrong,  and  did  not  hesitate 
to  say  so.  They  were  accused  of  dogmatism.  The  great 
difference  between  them  and  the  sectarian  world  around 
them  on  the  subject  of  conversion,  led  them  to  write  a 
great  deal  on  faith,  repentance  and  baptism.  It  is  signifi- 
cant that  many  of  those  who  complained  of  the  literature 
were  wont  at  the  same  time  to  declare  that  baptism  for 
the  remission  of  sins  was  "  a  hackneyed  subject."  All 
controverted  subjects  were  avoided  by  them,  or  treated 
very  slightly,  and  they  were  at  much  pains  to  be.  on  good 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   EKANKLIN.  311 

terms  with  "other  churches. "  The  periodicals  of  the 
brotherhood,  they  contended,  were  too  much  given  to 
fighting,  and  were  not  fit  to  be  loaned  to  their  neighbors. 
A  literature  that  would  not  so  urgently  press  the  claims 
of  the  Reformation,  was,  by  such  persons,  held  to  have 
one  of  the  essentials  of  the  "higher  order  of  literature" 
required. 

3.  Was  it  the  subject-matter  of  the  literature  that  was 
to  be  improved?  The  subjects  treated  of  were  the  same 
as  those  in  all  the  periodicals  which  have  since  come  into 
existence.  Weeklies,  Monthlies,  Quarterlies — all  treat 
of  the  sacred  history,  the  Divine  commands,  and  the 
exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  of  the  Christian's 
Lord  and  Redeemer.    These  were  then  the  current  topics. 

At  the  risk  of  being  accused  of  transcending  the  limits 
of  the  historian,  we  submit  one  reflection  upon  the 
situation  : 

About  the  year  1856,  some  very  scholarly  Reformers, 
having  a  philosophical  turn  of  mind,  ventured  upon  a 
speculation  as  to  an  "  inner  consciousness,"  a  "divinity 
within,"  or  a  mystic  "  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
Robert  Richardson  wrote  a  serial  in  the  Millenial  Har- 
binger, with  the  ostensible  purpose  of  showing  the  evils 
of  Locke's  philosophy  that,  "  the  mind  knows  not  things 
immediately,  but  only  by  the  intervention  of  the  ideas  it1 
has  of  them."  He  and  many  others  who  at  once  followed 
him  in  this  theory  claimed  that  by  the  comforting  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  is  brought 
into  immediate  connection  with  the  things  of  God.  Others 
objected  that  this  was  simply  a  new  phase  or  form  of 
mysticism  or  "  inner-lightism."  A  controversy  raged, 
in  which  the  old  battle  on  the  direct  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  fought  over  again.     Mr.  Franklin,  to  the  great 


312  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF 

disgust  of  many  of  the  younger  men,  who  conceive  that 
philosophy  is  inseparably  associated  with  elegant  diction, 
and  indeed,  without  penning  one  sentence  which  showed 
whether  he  comprehended  Locke's  philosophy  or  Mr. 
Richardson's  objections  to  it,  struck  a  blow  at  their 
theory,  as  applied  to  the  Bible  and  the  Christian  religion, 
which  set  the  masses  of  the  people  against  it,  and  led 
them  to  believe  that  it  was  worse  than  useless.  He  said  : 
"  After  preaching  the  plain  gospel  of  Christ,  as  the 
Disciples  have  done  for  more  than  thirty  years,  gathering 
some  three  hundred  thousand  souls  into  the  fold  of  Christ, 
many  of  them  from  the  contending  parties  around  us,  and 
uniting  them  in  the  bond  of  peace  and  union,  thus  making 
ourselves  felt  as  no  other  people  have  done  in  this  coun- 
try, a  brother  perceives  where  a  slight  mistake  may  have 
occurred.  He  becomes  alarmed,  looks  upon  all  that  has 
been  done  as  nothing,  and  declares  that  nothing  great  and 
good  will  be  accomplished  till  the  evil  is  corrected.  He 
just  now  perceives  that  there  is  danger  of  men  resting 
their  faith  in  the  Word,  and  not  in  the  divine  and  glorious 
person  revealed  through  the  Word.  He  thinks  many  are 
deceived,  in  relying  simply  upon  the  Word  instead  of 
relying  upon  Him  who  gave  the  Word.  He  now  perceives 
the  secret  of  there  not  being  devotion,  piety  and  zeal.  It 
is  found  in  the  stupid  mistake  of  believing  the  truth,  in 
the  place  of  believing  in  Him  who  is  revealed  through 
the  truth.  *  *  *  Can  a  man  confide  in  Jesus  and  not 
confide  in  his  word?  or  confide  in  his  word  and  not  con- 
fide in  him?  Can  a  man  confide  in  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
not  confide  in  his  word?  or  confide  in  his  word  and  not 
confide  in  him?  Can  a  man  receive  the  word  of  Jesus 
and  not  receive  Jesus  ?  Can  any  person  believe  the  word 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  not  receive  the  Holy  Spirit?    Can 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  313 

any  man  obey  the  word  and  not  obey  Him  who  uttered 
the  word  ?  Can  a  man  follow  the  word  spoken  by  the 
Spirit  and  not  follow  the  Spirit?  Can  a  man  be  led  by 
the  word  spoken  by  the  Spirit  and  not  be  led  by  the  Spirit? 
Are  not  all  those  led  by  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit, 
inscribed  upon  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  led  by  the  Spirit? 

"  Where  is  the  necessity  of  all  this?  When  did  an 
attorney  ever  find  it  necessary  to  inform  the  jury  that  the 
testimony  was  not  the  thing  to  be  believed,  but  that 
revealed  through  the  testimony  was  what  was  to  be 
believed?  In  what,  except  in  religion,  did  any  man  ever 
think  it  necessary  to  caution  the  people  that  the  truth 
itself  is  not  what  is  to  be  believed,  but  that  which  is  made 
known  through  the  truth?  Of  what  possible  use  can  such 
metaphysical  distinctions  be  to  any  human  being?  " 

After  some  articles  of  this  kind  on  the  subject,  H.  T. 
Anderson  published  a  series  of  articles  to  explain  Mr. 
Richardson's  meaning.  "  The  design  of  Dr.  Richardson," 
said  he,  is  not  understood.  Perhaps  it  may  be  well  to 
ascertain  the  real  design  of  Dr.  Richardson  and  let  the 
readers  of  the  Review  know  on  what  ground  he  stands, 
and  what  is  the  nature  of  that  false  philosophy  which  he 
has  so  ably  exposed."  From  his  lengthy  explanation  we 
select  the  following  paragraph,  which,  with  quotations 
given  from  the  editor  of  the  Review,  will,  we  think,  bring 
the  point  in  this  discussion  before  the  reader: 

"  That  Dr.  Richardson  should  think  it  necessary  to  lay 
before  the  readers  of  the  Harbinger  the  effects  and  ten- 
dency of  such  a  philosophy  is  not  to  be  wondered  at. 
That  such  a  philosophy  has  an  injurious  tendency,  cannot 
for  a  moment  be  doubted  by  those  who  have  any  knowl- 
edge of  it.  That  some  persons  should  adopt  and  advocate 
it,  is  to  be  expected  ;  because  it  is  adapted  to  the  tempers, 


314  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

dispositions  and  feelings  of  a  certain  class.  It  is  reduced 
to  this :  words  are  the  signs  of  ideas ;  we  receive  the 
words  ;  we  have  the  ideas  which  God  gives  ;  and  here  the 
matter  of  religion  ends.  Was  it  for  this  that  we  have 
toiled  so  long?  Grant  that  words  are  signs  of  our  ideas  ; 
that  we  communicate  with  one  another;  that  God  com- 
municates a  knowledge  of  himself  to  us  by  means  of 
words  ;  that  the  Holy  Spirit  communicates  to  us  a  knowl- 
edge of  divine  things  ;  that,  as  Mr.  Locke  says,  in  our 
reasonings  we  have  to  do  with  ideas — but  all  this  to  be 
admitted — does  it  follow  that  we  have  nothing  in  our  hearts 
but  ideas  of  divine  things?  If  this  is  the  case,  our  con- 
sciousness falsifies,  and  the  Bible  itself  is  a  deception  ;  for 
the  oracles  of  God  promise  not  ideas,  but  tilings.  This  is 
the  point  which  Dr.  Richardson  has  had  in  view.  He 
desires,  for  himself  and  for  all,  that  we  shall  enjoy  the 
things  of  the  Spirit,  and  not  the  ideas  or  words  of  the 
Spirit.  There  is  a  vast  difference  between  words  and 
things,  ideas  and  things.  Our  ideas  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
are  not  the  Spirit;  nor  are  our  ideas  of  remission  of  sins, 
sanctification,  adoption,  justification,  holiness  and  faith, 
the  things  of  which  these  words  are  but  the  names." 
To  this  communication  Mr.  Franklin  responded  : 
*'The  reputation  of  Locke's  philosophy  is  a  trouble- 
some business.  Brother  Richardson  has  written  a  year 
on  the  subject,  and  brother  Anderson,  who  thanks  him 
for  his  year's  work,  says,  *  The  design  which  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson has  had  in  view,  is  not  understood  ! '  What  can 
be  the  reason  that  his  design  is  not  understood?  He 
must  be  an  unsuccessful  writer,  truly,  to  write  a  year  and 
then  have  it  proclaimed  that  his  design  is  not  understood  ! 
What  can  the  cause  be?  Is  the  subject  so  difficult  to 
make  intelligible?   or,  is  the  doctor  such  an  ambiguous 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  315 

writer?  Brother  Anderson  now  sets  out  to  *  ascertain  the 
re;il  design  of  Dr.  Richardson,  and  let  the  readers  of  the 
Review  know  on  what  ground  he  stands.'  This  is  a 
high  compliment  to  Dr.  R.,  truly!  After  he  has  heen 
writing  a  year,  and  is  not  understood,  a  friend  conies  for- 
ward and  benevolently  proposes  to  ascertain  his  real  de- 
sign, and  let  our  readers  know  on  what  ground  he  stands! 
But  what  assurance  have  the  public  that  they  can  under- 
stand brother  Anderson  any  better  than  brother  Richard- 
son? especially,  when  he  undertakes  to  "  ascertain  the 
real  design,"  and  "  let  the  people  know  the  ground  an- 
other man  stands  upon.?"  We  are  sadly  mistaken  if  he 
will  be  any  more  readily  understood  than  brother  Rich- 
ardson. 

"  If  the  nice  distinctions  our  brethren  are  trying  to 
make  had  been  necessary,  it  is  strange  the  apostles  did 
not  stop  and  explain  to  their  hearers  and  readers,  that 
not  their  words  nor  their  ideas  constituted  what  was  to 
be  received,  but  the  things  revealed  through  them  !  Has 
anybody  among  us  been  so  stupid  as  to  feast,  or  try 
to  feast,  upon  the  words,  or  ideas,  and  not  receive  the 
things  of  the  Spirit?  " 

If  the  masses  failed  to  understand  the  metaphysics  of 
the  advocates  of  an  "  inner  consciousness,"  they  did  not 
fail  to  understand  the  editor  of  the  Review,  and  they  so 
generally  accepted  his  conclusions  that  the  advocates  of 
the  new  philosophy  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  discus- 
sion. 

The  persistency  with  which  he  pressed  his  view  of  the 
matter  upon  them,  and  his  success  before  the  people,  set 
a  number  of  scholarly  young  men  against  him  and  influ- 
enced their  zeal  for  a  "  higher  order  of  literature."  But 
it  did  not  interrupt  the  relation  between  him  and  the  two 


316  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

distinguished  scholars  named  above.  By  their  wisdom 
and  experience,  quite  as  much  as  by  their  learning,  they 
were  elevated  to  a  manly  dignity  whch  could  not  be  ruffled 
at  being  worsted  in  a  popular  controversy.  Mr.  Frank- 
lin improved  the  opportunities  opened  to  him  afterward, 
to  show  that  his  emphasis  was  not  inspired  by  any  per- 
sonal feeling.  When  H.  T.  Anderson  set  himself  to  the 
work  of  translating  the  New  Testament,  he  had  no  more 
ardent  supporter  than  Benjamin  Franklin.  Indeed,  the 
measure  of  popularity  to  which  the  translation  attained, 
was  chiefly  owing  to  his  advocacy  of  it.  Talbot  Fanning, 
then  president  of  Franklin  College,  Tennessee,  called  the 
teachers  of  the  new  doctrine  "infidels."  Mr.  Franklin 
responded  promptly  to  this  in  a  way  that  showed  he  had 
no  personal  feeling  in  the  discussion  : 

"  We  respect  several  of  the  men  who  have  fallen  into 
this  error,  and  regret  the  course  pursued  by  brother  Fan- 
ning as  much  as  we  do  that  pursued  by  the  most  ultra 
among  those  whom  he  opposes.  While  we  regard  them 
as  propagating  an  erroneous  philosophy,  which,  if  it  made 
the  principle  of  action,  would  subvert  the  Gospel,  set 
aside  the  faith  and  delude  the  church,  we  have  no  confi- 
dence in,  nor  sympathy  with,  the  course  of  President 
Fanning,  in  calling  them  *  infidels.'  There  is  not  the 
least  doubt  but  the  most  of  these  brethren,  and  probably 
all  of  them,  will  abandon  their  theory  or  philosophy.  The 
most  of  them  are  young  men  who  have  never  done  much 
thinking  or  reading,  especially  profound  thinking  or  read- 
ing ;  nor  have  they  a  just  appreciation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. They  are  not  infidels,  nor  have  they  any  more 
intention  of  becoming  such  than  brother  Fanning  or  our- 
self.  They  have  simply  adopted  some  of  the  pretty  ex- 
pressions of  an  insidious  philosophy  and  scattered  them 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  317 

through  some  of  their  public  teachings,  as  a  kind  of  em- 
bellishment. No  man  need  tell  us  that  Prof.  Robert  Rich- 
ardson is  an  infidel,  till  a  more  convincing  evidence  shall 
arise  than  the  circumstance  that  in  a  question  in  philos- 
ophy, he  has  employed  some  cloudy  expressions,  unsound 
phrases,  and  higher  law  terms.  He  has  as  strong  faith 
in  our  glorious  Redeemer,  and  in  the  word  of  his  grace, 
as  President  Fanning  or  ourself.  We  must  see  some- 
thing more  than  has  yet  appeared,  before  we  shall  hear 
that  great  and  good  man  called  an  infidel  without  our  feel- 
ings shrinking  and  recoiling." 

On  a  charge,  more  than  intimated  or  implied,  that  the 
advocacy  of  this  theory  showed  unsoundness  in  Bethany 
College,  Mr.  Franklin  added:  "The  circumstance 
that  brother  Richardson  has  used  a  few  of  the  mystic 
expressions  of  an  unsound  philosophy  and  a  few  young  men, 
graduates  of  Bethany  College,  have  thought  they  were 
getting  a  little  wiser,  in  resuscitating  an  exploded  philoso- 
phy, is  no  evidence  that  Bethany  College  is  not  sound. 
There  is  no  sounder  college  on  this  earth  than  Bethany 
College,  uor  aie  there  any  sounder  men  than  its  Profes- 
sors." 

We  have  said  that  the  course  of  Mr.  Franklin  and  his 
success  in  this  discussion  set  a  number  of  young  men 
against  him.  They  were  indeed,  quite  exasperated,  and 
raised  a  cry  of  "tyranny  of  opinion,"  "unwritten 
creeds,"  and  "  iron  bedsteads."  They  were  completely 
and  irrevocably  estranged  from  him,  and  thereafter  took 
advantage  of  every  circumstance  that  could  be  turned 
against  him.  Some  of  the  other  circumstances  which  we 
have  already  detailed,  were  by  this  time  operating  against 
the  Review  and  its  editor.  All  these  combined  to  inau- 
gurate a  movement,  informal  and  irregular,  but  a  distinct 


318  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF   FKANKLIN. 

movement,  to  reform  the  Reformation,  and  especially  to 
rescue  it  from  the  control  of  the  Review  and  its  friends. 
The  movement  was  sometimes  called  the  "  New  Interest," 
and  they  who  were  engaged  in  it  were  called  "  Pro- 
gressives." 

In  the  current  methods  of  society,  every  popular  move 
must  have  its  "  organ,"  in  the  form  of  a  periodical  pub- 
lication. Several  attempts  in  this  direction  were  made  by 
parties  opposed  to  the  Review,  but  without  success,  until 
in  1865,  when  a  company  was  formed  with  a  capital  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  The  Christian  Standard 
was  established,  with  Isaac  Errett  as  editor.  Mr.  Errett 
was  a  man  of  exeeuiive  ability  and  persistency  of  charac- 
ter fairly  equal  to  the  editor  of  the  Review.  His  literary 
attainments  were  competent  to  the  undertaking,  he  was  a 
graceful  and  fluent  writer,  and  had  shrewdness  enough  to 
combine  all  the  elements  of  opposition  to  the  Review, 
and  thus  constitute  a  following  which  has  elevated  the 
Standard  into  a  formidable  establishment.  It  was  first 
published  from  Cleveland,  but,  after  some  vicissitudes, 
was  eventually  removed  to  Cincinnati. 

The  strife  between  these  periodicals  was  extremely  bit- 
ter, and  sometimes  went  on  with  a  violence  that  distressed 
thousands  of  their  readers  on  both  sides.  The  Standard 
was  the  advocate  of  all  the  measures  included  under  the 
head  of  "  progress,"  and  was  claimed  to  be  liberal  in  its 
attitude  toward  people  in  high  life,  who  were  unwilling  to 
be  held  under  all  the  restraints  imposed  by  the  common 
current  of  public  opinion.  The  friends  of  the  Review 
claimed  it  as  the  advocate  of  the  pure  gospel  and  simple 
morals  revealed  in  the  New  Testament,  and  christened  it 
with  the  pet  name  of  "The  Old  Reliable." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

/  |\  HE  Disciples  protested  constantly,  during  the  early 
_1_  }rears  of  the  Reformation,  that  they  were  not  a  ''sect," 
and  that  it  was  no  part  of  their  mission  to  attempt  the 
formation  of  a  new  sectarian  organization.  How  this 
could  be,  the  religious  parties  already  in  existence,  could 
not,  or  would  not,  understand.  They  persistently  recog- 
nized a  denomination  which  they  called,  "  The  Campbell- 
ite  Church,"  and  insisted  that  Alexander  Campbell  was 
its  founder.  If  the  Reformers  said,  "  We  are  simply  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ,  and  we  belong  only  to  the  Church  of 
Christ,"  they  were  understood  at  once  to  use  the  term 
<' Church  of  Christ"  in  a  limited  or  denominational 
sense,  exactly  equivalent  to  the  term  "  Campbellite 
Church,"  as  used  by  themselves.  We  have,  in  each  of 
two  preceding  chapters,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  Disciples  began  to  feel  embarrassed  for  the  want  of 
some  unobjectionable  term  which  would  bear  such  an  ap- 
plication, and  that  finally,  "  Christian  Church,"  was  cur- 
rently used  in  that  way. 

In  current  usage  there  is  a  shade  of  difference  between 
denominationalism  and  sectarianism.  Denominationalism 
is  defined  to  be,  "  attachment  to  a  particular  religious 
sect  or  denomination."  The  idea  of  denominationalism 
embraces  the  entire  work  of  forming  a  party  of  professed 
Christians  separate  from  all  other  professed  Christians, 
and  giving  them  a  name  which  belongs  to  no  others.  It 
was  held  by  the  Reformers  for  many  years  that  they  were 
not  doing   this.     They   took   the   names,  Christian  and 


320  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP 

Disciples  of  Christ,  but  did  not  presume  to  appropriate 
them  exclusively.  Any  other  persons  might  use  them 
as  well.  When  they  said  they  belonged  to  the  Church  of 
Christ  they  did  not  assume  that  other  persons  did  not. 
In  current  usage  the  word  "  Church  "  is  applied  to  the 
local  congregation,  to  the  sect  or  denomination,  and  to 
all  Christians.  But  in  the  last  application  it  is  usually 
spoken  of  as  the  "  invisible  Church."  In  Bible  usage, 
"the  Church"  means  all  Christians.  When  Jesus  said, 
"  I  will  build  my  Church,"  he  meant  the  whole  body  of 
obedient  believers.  When  a  single  congregation  was 
meant,  the  word  "  Church"  was  limited  by  the  name  of 
the  place  where  it  was  located,  as  "  the  Church  of  God 
which  is  at  Corinth."  In  the  Scripture  which  declares 
that,  "  Christ  is  head  over  all  to  the  Church  which  is  his 
body,"  he  evidently  includes  all  Christians.  It  has  only 
these  two  applications. 

The  "  Methodist  Episcopal  Church "  ( granting  its 
claim  to  being  a  "  branch  of  Christ's  Church  ")  is  more 
than  a  local  congregation,  and  it  is  less  than  "  the 
Church "  which  is  Christ's  body.  This  organization, 
which  is  less  than  the  "  body  of  Christ,"  and  yet  more 
than  a  single  congregation,  is  a  thing  unknown  to  the 
Bible,  and  therefore  without  authority.  The  Reformers 
were  quite  willing  to  apply  this  reasoning  to  themselves. 
If  a  "Reform  Church,"  or  "Disciples'  Church,"  or  the 
same  thing  with  any  other  name,  should  be  organized,  it 
would  simply  be  a  new  sect,  and  would  have  no  authority 
for  its  existence.  They  meant  to  have  nothing  but  what 
the  Bible  teaches,  and  they  therefore  had  no  use  for  un- 
scriptural  names. 

In  this  view  of  the  situation  Mahoning  Association  and 
Springfield  Presbytery  were  dissolved.     It  is  the  general 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  321 

prevalence  of  this  view  among  them  that  has  defeated 
every  movement  looking  toward  a  denominational  organi- 
zation. The  Disciples  belonging  to  the  Current  Informa- 
tion are  a  separate  people,  not  because  they  are  hedged 
in  by  any  denominational  organization  of  their  own,  but 
because  they  are  fenced  out  by  the  organizations  of  other 
professed  Christians.  Whenever  the  denominational  or- 
ganizations shall  be  thrown  aside  all  Christians  will  stand 
© 

together. 

But  the  denominational  idea,  after  a  time,  and  espe- 
cially after  the  work  had  gathered  in  a  considerable  de- 
gree of  wealth  and  social  position,  took  possession  of  the 
minds  of  many  who  were  engaged  in  the  work  of  reforma- 
tion. Many  joined  in  the  search  for  a  suitable  denomina- 
tional epithet,  and  set  their  minds  to  contriving  some  plan 
of  organization. 

The  editor  of  the  Western  Reformer  seemed  to  have 
the  denominational  idea  in  mind  in  1847.  The  semi-annual 
address  of  the  "American  Christian  Bible  Society,"  signed 
by  D.  S.  Burnet,  President,  and  James  Challen,  Corres- 
ponding Secretary,  was  published  by  the  Genius  of 
Christianity,  and  commented  upon  by  the  editor  as 
follows : 

"  With  pleasure,  yet  with  pain,  we  give  place  to  the 
foregoing  address  of  the  American  Christian  Bible  So- 
ciety. Wo  are  much  interested  in  the  objects  of  the 
society,  and  therefore  take  pleasure  in  giving  publicity  to 
its  intentions.  On  the  other  hand  we  could  wish  that  the 
address  had  been  less  sectarian  in  character,  and  more 
just  in  its  representations.  It  proceeds  on  the  principle 
of  making  a  distinct  brotherhood  on  party  grounds,  and 
the  sectarian   phrase,    *  our  brethren,'  occurs  quite  often 

enough.       We    shall   give    countenance    to    no    divisive 

©  © 

15 


322  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 


brotherhoods  among  Christians.  The  idea  of  brother- 
hood is  an  idea  of  too  great  significance  to  be  prostituted 
to  the  low  purposes  of  party.  There  is  but  one  Brother- 
hood, of  all  the  Saints  in  Christ.  All  who  follow  Christ 
are  alike  our  brethren." 

To  this  the  editor  of  the  Reformer  responded  : 
"  He  says,  the  '  Address  proceeds  on  the  principle  of 
making  a  distinct  brotherhood  on  party  grounds.'  Well, 
in  the  name  of  all  reason,  candor,  and  righteousness,  did 
not  the  Lord  of  Life  make  a  distinct  Brotherhood,  'the 
Church  of  the  Living  God,'  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth?  Did  he  not  command  them  to  come  out  from  the 
wicked,  and  be  separate  from  them?  Did  he  not  call 
them  a  *  peculiar  people?'  Did  he  not  call  them  *  a  chosen 
generation?'  Did  they  not  call  this  people  *  the  Brethren,' 
4  the  saints,'  'the  faithful,'  etc.,  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
show  that  others  are  not  entitled  to  these  designations? 
Did  not  our  blessed  Master  say,  '  Whoever  is  not  for  us 
is  against  us?'  Why  should  it  produce  pain,  then,  to 
hear  the  expression  *  our  brethren?''  or  to  make  a  distinct 
brotherhood?  Why  not  rebuke  Peter  for  saying,  'our 
beloved  Paul?'  Why  not  rebuke  Paul  for  calling  Phile- 
mon, Apphia,  and  Archippus  'our  fellow  soldiers?" 

And  yet,  at  the  same  time,  had  some  Methodist,  or 
Baptist,  or  Presbyterian,  accused  him  of  being  engaged 
in  "  making  a  distinct  brotherhood  on  party  grounds," 
he  would  have  denied  the  accusation  with  emphasis,  and 
have  insisted  that  the  Reformation  was  no  new  sect.  It 
is,  however,  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  Mr.  Franklin  was 
in  the  twelfth  year  of  his  ministerial  and  the  third  of  his 
editorial  career  when  he  wrote  these  words.  His  mind 
was  clear  on  this  subject  afterward,  as  we  shall  presently 
see, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  323 

His  "  Introduction "  to  the  Proclamation  and  Re- 
former,  for  1850,  contains  the  following  paragraph : 

"  As  a  church,  we  are  just  getting  fairly  started  in  the 
spirit  of  benevolence,  and  beginning  to  cast  about  us  to 
find  facilities  for  doing  good.  In  this  direction  we  have 
made  some  important  moves  the  present  year,  in  form- 
ing Missionary  Societies,  and  in  taking  hold  of  the  Amer- 
ican Christian  Bible  Society,  the  Tract  Society  and  the 
subject  of  Sunday  Schools,  before  in  existence  and  in 
them  such  a  sanction  as  will  tell  for  ages  to  come.  A 
great  and  glorious  body  of  people,  like  ours,  must  have 
arrangements  made  or  mediums  devised  through  which 
to  operate,  and  then  we  may  expect  its  influence  to  be 
felt  on  the  world.  Thousands  among  us  have  desired 
something  of  this  kind  for  years,  and  are  now  rejoiced  in 
its  accomplishment. " 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that,  had  he  been  asked 
what  church  he  referred  to  in  the  expression,  "  we,  as  a 
church,"  he  would  instantly  have  responded,  M  Why,  the 
Church  of  Christ,  of  course. "  Had  some  persistent  in- 
quirer asked  whether  the  expression,  "A  great  and  glori- 
ous body,  like  ours, "  is  exactly  equivalent  to  the  term 
"Church  of  Christ,"  or  "  Church  of  God,"  he  would 
have  hesitated,  as  well  he  might,  before  answering  in  the 
affirmative.  In  the  same  article  from  which  this  is  taken 
we  find  the  following  sentences  referring  to  the  Reforma- 
tion as  a  v:orh: 

"  His  most  gracious  system  is  committed  to  the  pages 
of  the  sacred  record  in  the  New  Testament,  as  delivered 
by  inspired  men  of  old.  The  first  work  of  this  publica- 
tion will  be  to  exhibit  and  defend  that  system  before  the 
world.  We  shall  labor  constantly  to  keep  up  distinctly 
the  line  of  demarkation  between  the  teachings  of  our  Sa- 


324  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

vior  and  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men.  We 
have  all  confidence  in  our  position,  with  the  Bible  and 
the  Bible  alone,  for  the  rule  of  our  faith  and  practice. 
If  we  fail  at  all,  it  will  not  be  on  account  of  our  position 
being  wrong,  but  must  be  because  we  do  not  come  up  to 
our  profession.  Our  profession  is  as  good  as  we  can 
make ;  for  we  profess  to  believe  all  the  Lord  has  reveal- 
ed, to  do  all  he  has  commanded,  to  enjoy  all  he  has  be- 
stowed, and  hope  for  all  he  has  promised.  This  is  all  Ave 
can  do,  and  all  we  can  enjoy.     Who  can  do  more? 

M  We  are  certain  that  the  work  being  done  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  in  religious  reformation,  is  of  the  first  im- 
portance, and  will  be  referred  back  to  with  grateful  feel- 
ings for  many  ages  to  come.  There  never  was  a  wiser 
protest  in  all  the  reformations  we  have  any  account  of, 
than  that  urged  by  the  present  reformation  against  the 
authority  of  all  human  creeds,  as  bonds  of  Christian  fel- 
lowship. Nor  should  we  ever  cease  our  plea  against  the 
unjust  and  unscriptural  authority  of  all  human  creeds  in 
the  Church  of  God,  till  the  law  of  the  Lord  shall  be  re- 
stored to  its  proper  authority  in  the  Church  and  the 
hearts  of  the  people." 

This  is  language  suited  to  the  situation,  and  savors  not 
in  the  slightest  degree  of  denominationalism. 

This  conception  of  a  new  and  distinct  denomination 
was  very  definitely  expressed  by  one  of  the  most  gifted 
tongues  among  the  Reformers.  In  the  Third  Annual  Ad- 
dress of  the  Bible  Society  the  President  said : 

"  One  of  our  sister  denominations,  standing  beside  us 
on  the  great  question  of  the  action  of  baptism,  but  long 
hampered  with  speculations  relative  to  the  designs  of 
God,  has,  within  comparatively  a  few  years,  astonished 
the  world  by  the  extent  and  success  of  its  missions  and 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  325 

its  home-directed  efforts  to  disseminate  the  word  of  God 
and  upbuild  their  views.  With  nobler  confidence  in  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  according  .to  our  numbers,  we  ought 
to  equal,  if  not  exceed  them,  in  achievements  of  such 
moral  value." 

That  something  more  than  merely  sending  out  Bibles 
and  missionaries  was  contemplated  by  the  "  organizers" 
of  those  days,  we  learn  from  the  same  Address  : 

"  It  was  clearly  stated,  that  while  there  was  a  peculiar 
propriety  in  making  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  the  first 
measure,  it  would  be  necessary  to  follow  it  up  with  or- 
ganisms for  the  more  effectual  enlightenment  of  men,  by 
preaching  and  teaching,  by  Sunday  Schools  and  periodi- 
cals, by  publishing  standard  works  and  foreign  versions, 
and  by  aiding  in  the  education  of  those  whom  Providence 
mny  seem  to  set  forth  as  chosen  agents  in  these  several 
fields  of  Christian  and  glorious  enterprise.  Once  in  the 
work,  there  is  enough  to  do,  and,  I  trust,  willing  hearts 
to  do  it.  We  began  with  the  Bible,  because  here  we  are 
all  at  home,  and  there  are  fewer  prejudices  to  be  over- 
come, in  reference  to  this  object,  than  to  any  other." 

The  discussion  of  this  subject  began  in  Mr.  Franklin's 
first  volume  of  the  Reformer,  and  was  continued  through- 
out the  last  volume  of  the  Review.  In  1845,  some  one, 
over  the  signature  of  "Paul  Pry,"  wrote  as  follows : 
"  If  there  is  any  such  a  Bible  thing  as  co-operation,  you 
will  please  give  us  the  Bible  name,  and  the  Bible  descrip- 
tion of  the  thing  so-called.  I  have  gained  some  informa- 
tion from  the  writings  of  Reformers  ;  but  among  many 
subjects,  this  is  one  that  found  me  in  the  dark  and  left  me 
there.''9     To  this  Mr.  Franklin  responded  : 

"  Dear  Brother  Pry  :  —  If  you  will  turn  to  II  Cor. 
viii.  18-19,  you  will  find  the  Bible  Thing  that  we  some^ 


326  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

times  call  co-operation  —  *  And  we  have  sent  with  him 
the  brother,  whose  praise  is  in  the  Gospel  throughout  all 
the  churches ;  and  not  that  only,  but  who  was  also 
chosen  of  the  churches  to  travel  with  us  with  this  grace, 
which  is  administered  by  us  to  the  glory  of  the  same 
Lord,  and  declaration  of  your  ready  mind.'  This  con- 
certed, or  united  act  of  these  churches,  in  choosing  this 
brother,  is  co-operation  or  joint  effort  in  a  good  work. 
You  will  find  by  reading  the  next  chapter,  that  these 
churches  made  a  joint  contribution  to  *  supply  the  want 
of  the  saints,'  which  is  called  an  «  experiment'  (verse  13) 
by  which  they  glorified  God,  and  exhibited  'their  pro- 
fessed subjection  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ.' 

"  This  thing  of  churches  acting  jointly,  in  certain  cases 
is  a  '•Bible  Thing  ?  and  one  which  we  had  better  do,  than 
to  stand  still  disputing  about  the  <  Bible  Name '  of  it. 
As  it  respects  the  manner  of  doing  it,  it  is  principally 
left  discretionary  with  the  churches  ;  and  if  one  '  expe- 
riment '  does  not  act  well,  they  are  at  liberty  to  try  an- 
other. If  a  company  of  men  can  unite  their  means  and 
establish  a  college,  construct  a  canal  or  turnpike,  and 
keep  them  in  operation,  guided  only  by  the  judgment 
which  God  has  given  them  ;  what  necessity  can  there  be 
for  a  law  in  the  Bible,  specifying  every  particular  as  to 
how  a  contribution  shall  be  raised,  by  several  churches, 
and  conveyed  to  the  poor  saints  at  any  particular  place, 
or  how  a  brother  shall  be  chosen  by  the  churches  and 
supported  to  preach  the  Gospel?  All  I  have  to  say  fur- 
ther at  present  is,  that  I  am  tired  of  hearing  it  plead  that 
we  must  have  a  law  specifying  all  the  particulars  in  this 
matter,  and  calling  for  it  to  be  pointed  out,  when  there 
is  no  such  law,  and  no  need  of  any,  and  continuing  year 
after  year  doing  nothing.     I  say  not  this  to  Bro.  Pry, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  327 

for  I  know  not  but  that  he  may  be  doing  all  that  is  re- 
quired, but  I  speak  of  the  cause  in  general." 

The  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Bible  Society  and  Mis- 
sionary Society  in  Indiana,  in  1850,  sent  out  an  "Address 
to  the  Christian  Brotherhood  throughout  the  State  of  In- 
diana," in  which  the  argument  from  "  expediency  "  was 
introduced  as  follows  : 

"But  there  is  still  another  question  to  be  settled,  in 
order  to  prepare  us  to  decide  the  question  of  duty, 
namely,  Do  the  Holy  Scriptures  authorize  or  permit 
Christians  to  form  such  societies,  in  order  to  circulate 
the  Bible,  and  send  Evangelists  to  the  destitute?  Now 
wre  do  not  say,  that  the  Lord  has  given  any  express  com- 
mand for  the  formation  of  such  associations,  but  the 
chapter  is  now  read  and  acknowledged,  and  acted  upon 
by  our  brethren  generally,  and  it  is  to  that  chapter  we 
refer  to  sustain  these  good  works.  The  great  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles,  recognized  this  chapter,  and  even  went  so 
far  as  to  teach  that  some  things  that  are  lawful,  under 
some  circumstances  that  may  be  inexpedient;  'All 
things/  said  he,  '  are  lawful  to  me,  but  all  things  are 
not  expedient.'  The  same  principle  is  set  forth  in  the 
following  Scripture,  '  Finally,  brethren,  whatever  things 
are  pure,  whatever  things  are  venerable,  whatever  things 
are  just,  whatever  things  are  benevolent,  (mark  that) 
whatever  things  are  of  good  fame,  if  there  be  any  virtue, 
and  if  any  praise  be  due,  attentively  consider  these 
things,  those,  also,  which  ye  have  learned,  and  received, 
and  heard,  and  seen  with  mc,  practice;  and  the  God  of 
peace  shall  be  with  you.'  Phil.  iv.  8,  9.  (We  quote  from 
the  New  version.) 

"  Here  Paul  commands  Christians  to  practice  whatever 
is  just,  pure  and  benevolent,  but  leaves  it  to  their  wis- 


328  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

dom  and  circumstances  to  decide,  in  many  cases,  what  is 
just  and  benevolent.  Now  let  us  apply  this  principle  to 
the  works  under  consideration.  A  number  have  united 
into  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies,  for  the  purpose  of 
circulating  the  Bible  and  sustaining  the  proclamation  of 
the  Ancient  Gospel,  among  the  destitute  in  the  State  of 
Indiana.  Now  we  ask,  are  those  objects  just,  pure  and 
benevolent?  Is  it  benevolent  to  send  the  Bible  in  the 
hands  of  the  living  ministry?  Is  it  benevolent  for  Chris- 
tians to  unite  in  a  well-defined  system  to  sustain  con- 
stant preaching  among  those  who  have  not  the  means 
to  help  themselves  to  the  Word  of  Life,  or  who  if  they 
have  the  means,  do  not  know  where  this  inestimable 
blessing  can  be  obtained?  If  in  this,  then,  is  every 
brother  and  sister  in  the  State  called  upon  by  the  heaven- 
inspired  Apostle,  to  aid,  by  their  means  and  influence 
in  these  good  works." 

Mr.  Franklin  himself,  at  the  beginning  of  the  discus- 
sion, relied  upon  this  "  expediency  argument,"  as  it  was 
afterwards  derisively  called.  To  a  correspondent  who 
sent  him  a  communication  on  the  subject,  he  said  :  "  The 
first  demand  in  the  above  is  a  request  that  we  show  a 
*  thus  saith  the  Lord  '  for  Bible  Societies,  etc.  We  an- 
swer that  it  is  found  in  the  same  connection  where  we 
find  a  '  thus  saith  the  Lord  '  for  building  a  meeting  house, 
for  appointing  a  meeting  at  a  certain  place,  for  appointing 
it  at  a  certain  hour,  for  selecting  a  place  to  baptize,  for 
translating  the  Scriptures  into  English,  for  singing  and 
praying  before  preaching,  for  free  discussion,  and  opening 
the  doors  of  our  meeting  houses  for  those  who  differ  from 
us  in  sentiment,  about  all  of  which  the  Scriptures  say  not 
one  word  directly." 

The  views  of  Alexander  Campbell,  as  set  forth  in  the 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  329 

Christian  Baptist,  were  constantly  urged  against  the  so- 
cieties. On  this  point  Mr.  Franklin  said:  "  We  are  re- 
quested to  reconcile  Bible  Societies,  etc.,  with  the  early 
writings  in  the  Christian  Baptist.  This  is  a  point  we 
have  not  meditated  upon,  and  do  not  intend  it  shall  be 
any  great  concern.  We  do  not  know  how  far  brother 
Campbell  has  changed  his  mind  on  these  matters  or  how 
far  he  would  attempt  to  harmonize  his  early  writings  with 
his  present  views  of  our  societies ;  but  one  thing  we 
know,  viz.:  that  if  he  has  changed  his  views  to  some  ex- 
tent in  a  matter  of  opinion,  as  all  admit  it  to  be,  in  the 
course  of  thirty  years,  it  by  no  means  justifies  men  in 
changing  on  the  most  vital  points  with  every  change  of 
the  moon." 

The  following  explains  itself,  and  also  shows  the  state 
of  mind  among  the  Disciples  in  many  places  at  the  time : 

"  The  Church  of  Christ  in  Connersville,  Pa.,  having  re- 
ceived of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  a  circular, 
inclosing  its  constitution,  held  a  meeting  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  propriety  of  becoming  an  auxiliary  society, 
after  an  impartial  investigation  of  the  Scriptures,  which 
resulted  in  the  following  resolutions : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every 
Christian  to  do  all  within  his  powder  for  the  advancement 
of  the  cause  of  Christ,  by  *  holding  forth  the  word  of  life  ' 
to  lost  and  ruined  man. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  consider  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  virtue  of  the  commission  given  by  our  blessed 
Lord,  the  only  Scriptural  organization  upon  earth,  for  the 
conversion  of  sinners  and  sanctification  of  believers. 

"Resolved,  That  we,  as  members  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  are  desirous  of  contributing,  according  to  our 
ability,  for  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel  in  foreign 
lands ;  but 


330  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"Resolved,  That,  conscientiously,  we  can  neither  aid 
nor  sanction  any  society,  for  this  or  other  purposes,  sepa- 
rate and  apart  from  the  church  ;  much  less,  one  which 
would  exclude  from  its  membership  many  of  our  brethren, 
and  all  the  apostles,  if  now  upon  the  earth,  because  '  sil- 
ver and  gold  they  had  none.' 

"Resolved,  That  we  consider  the  introduction  of  all 
such  societies  as  dangerous  precedents — a  departure  from 
the  principles  for  which  we  have  always  contended — and 
sanctioning  the  chapter  of  expediency ;  the  evil  and  per- 
nicious effects  of  which  the  past  history  of  the  church 
fully  proves. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  also  consider  them  *  necessarily 
heretical  and  schismatieal,'  as  much  so  as  human  creeds 
and  confessions  of  faith,  when  made  the  *  bonds  of  union 
and  communion.'  " 

The  resolutions  of  the  church  were  accompanied  by  an 
address  signed  by  the  eldership.  The  resolutions  and 
address  were  published  in  the  Age  and  the  Reformer,  with 
extended  comments  by  Mr.  Burnet,  from  which  we  make 
the  following  extract : 

"  But  while  I  do  not  subscribe  to  the  notion  that  the 
church,  as  a  specific  organization,  can  do  everything 
which  the  Lord  requires  his  saints  to  do,  I  wish  to  prove 
that  our  societies  assume  no  powers  not  employed  in  the 
apostolic  era. 

"  The  Connersville  elders,  then,  have  fallen  into  the 
popular  misconceptions  of  the  official  purposes  of  the 
Christian  church  ;  they  seem  to  forget  that  God  obviously 
requires  of  his  saints  many  labors  that  are  never  per- 
formed by  thorn  associated  as  a  church  ;  and  that  many 
persons  could  lawfully  perform,  by  their  associated  repre- 
sentatives,   what   no   individual    church    could    lawfully 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  331 

or  unlawfully  perform.  Christians  may  endow  colleges, 
but  individual  churches  do  not.  Christians  may  join 
with  non-professors  in  upbuilding  such  and  similar  benev- 
olent institutions,  when,  as  mere  members  of  churches, 
tliey  perhaps  would  never  accomplish  anything  of  the 
kind.  But  these  acts  are  none  the  less  Christian  on  that 
account.  Parents  are  required,  as  Christians,  both  to 
punish  and  reward  their  children,  but  these  are  not 
church  acts,  though  they  are  as  necessary  and  useful  as 
any  act  of  worship.  The  church  is  a  worshiping  assem- 
bly, and  its  members  may  and  should  contribute  to  the 
conversion  of  the  world  in  the  manner  best  suited  to  pro- 
duce the  result.  Paul  chose  association.  When  the 
church  at  Antioch,  the  great  patrons  of  Gentile  evangeliza- 
tion, had  become  the  powerful  center  of  Christian  Gentil- 
ism,  Paul  accepted  a  mission  at  their  hands,  as  the 
chosen  agent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  not  to  the  exclusion 
of  other  churches.  He  labored  under  the  co-operation  of 
churches  during  the  greater  part  of  his  ministry.  To 
carry  out  benevolent  purposes,  he  required  a  committee 
to  be  appointed  to  co-operate  with  him,  very  much 
as  secretaries,  treasurers,  managers  and  presidents  man- 
age the  affairs  of  societies  now-a-days.  When  Paul 
establishes  the  office  of  the  '  Messengers  of  the  Churches,' 
and  requires  that  districts  of  churches  should  appoint  a 
responsible  holder  and  distributor  of  charitable  funds,  he 
deserves  the  same  blame  which  is  liberally  bestowed 
on  those  who  are  forward  to  get  up  a  committee  of 
church  representatives,  and  call  them  by  such  official  des- 
ignations as  president,  secretary,  etc." 

Two  of  the  opponents  of  these  societies  at  the  begin- 
ning continued  their  opposition  throughout.  These  were 
Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  of  Palmyra,  Missouri,  and  Jer.  Smith, 


332  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  Winchester,  Indiana.  Articles  from  them,  with  ed- 
itorial responses,  are  found  as  far  back  as  the  year  1849. 

We  have  thus  far  omitted  a  biographical  sketch  of 
Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  a  distinguished  Reformer  and  veteran 
of  the  cross  of  Christ,  who  still  survives.  He  was 
born  January  17,  1799,  on  Butchers'  Creek,  Mecklen- 
burg County,  Virginia.  He  was  in  early  youth  pro- 
foundly impressed  religiously,  and  struggled  hard  for 
the  freedom  of  his  soul  under  the  confusing  influences  of 
sectarian  systems.  In  the  Life  of  Jacob  Creath,  by  Peter 
Donan,  we  find  the  following  account  which  Mr.  Creath 
gives  of  his  early  efforts  to  obtain  peace  and  pardon.  He 
says : 

"  I  never  saw  the  day  when  I  did  not  desire  to  be  good 
and  please  God,  my  Maker.  I  often  withdrew  to  retired 
places  and  prayed  to  him  that  I  might  see  a  great  light 
shining  around  me  like  Saul  of  Tarsus  ;  or  hear  a  voice, 
informing  me  that  my  sins  were  pardoned.  Under  these 
circumstances  nature  sometimes  gave  way,  and  I  went  to 
sleep  on  my  knees,  overwhelmed  with  the  dreadful  con- 
sideration that  I  was  forever  lost. 

"  In  this  state  of  mind  1  had  alarming  dreams.  One 
of  them  was  peculiarly  impressive.  I  imagined  that  the 
day  of  judgment  had  come.  The  human  race  were  as- 
sembled on  a  vast  plain.  The  Saviour  occupied  a  narrow 
pass  between  them  and  heaven,  through  which  only  it 
could  be  entered.  And  no  one  could  enjoy  that  unspeak- 
able privilege  but  those  on  whom  He  conferred  a  white 
ball  as  a  token  of  his  favor.  An  older  sister  and  myself 
approached  him  together.  On  her  he  bestowed  the 
pledge  of  his  love,  and  she  passed  away  from  me  into  the 
realms  of  unfading  beauty,  glory  and  bliss.  Me  he  repu- 
diated. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  333 

"  I  was  devotedly  attached  to  my  sister ;  and  when  I 
found  that  we  were  permanently  separated,  and  that  hell 
was  my  immortal  portion,  I  awoke,  screaming  in  a 
paroxysm  of  terror.  Although  it  is  more  than  fifty  years 
since  this  incident  occurred,  the  original  impression  still 
remains.  When  I  found  that  the  scene  was  merely  a 
dream,  I  went  earnestly  to  work  to  secure  my  salvation." 

Of  his  conversion  he  says:  "  When  I  emerged  from 
the  water,  I  possessed  what  had  never  fallen  to  my  lot  be- 
fore, *  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God.'  I 
felt  tranquil  as  a  summer's  eve.  My  •  peace  was  as  a 
river.'  I  *  rejoiced  with  joy  indescribable  and  full  of 
glory.'" 

Mr.  Creath  was  intimately  associated  with  Campbell, 
Stone,  Scott,  and  all  the  early  reformers,  and  has  done 
much  through  a  long  and  eventful  life,  both  with  tongue 
and  pen,  to  promote  the  cause  of  Apostolic  Christianity. 
He  has  traveled  extensively  through  the  South  and  West, 
preaching  the  pure  Gospel  and  exposing  as  but  few  men 
have  the  boldness  to  do  the  religious  errors  of  this  and 
past  ages.  He  possesses  a  wonderful  knowledge  of  the 
Bible  and  ecclesiastical  history.  He  was  called  by  Bro. 
Campbell  at  one  time,  "  the  historian  of  the  Church  of 
Christ."  He  has  written  much  for  our  periodicals,  and 
his  valuable  productions  may  be  found  in  the  Christian 
Baptist,  Millenial  Harbinger,  American  Christian  He- 
view,  and  other  publications.  He  has  turned  many  souls 
to  Christ,  and  still  lives  to  defend  the  faith  of  God,  full 
of  knowlege,  wisdom,  faith  and  love,  awaiting  the  sum- 
mons to  join  his  faithful  co-laborers  who  have  gone  be- 
fore. 

But  to  return  to  the  subject  of  opposition  to  the  socie- 
ties.    Mr.  Creath,  on  receipt  of  the  circular  announcing 


334  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

that  the  question  of  forming  a  Missionary  Society  would 
be  acted  upon  at  the  October  Anniversary  of  1849, 
wrote  a.  series  of  opposing  articles,  which,  after  some  de- 
lay, were  inserted  in  the  Proclamation  and  Reformer. 
He  treated  of  this  subject  under  the  heading  of  "  Argu- 
ments against  Clerical  Organization." 

The  following  queries,  with  Mr.  Franklin's  answers  to 
them,  comprise  a  fair  summary  of  the  state  of  the  dis- 
cussion two  years  after  the  organization  of  the  Missionary 
Society : 

"  1.  Is  not  the  argument  used  by  us  in  favor  of  Bible 
Missionary  societies,  etc.  (that  it  it  is  an  expedient  plan 
to  concentrate  our  means),  the  same  that  is  used  by  the 
sects,  in  favor  of  their  organizations? 

Josiah  Jackson." 

"Answer. — We  presume  the  querist  means,  in  the 
above  question,  by  the  words  « their  organization,'  the 
church  organization  of  the  sects.  If  so,  the  argument, 
'that  it  is  expedient,'  we  admit,  is  one  of  their  argu- 
ments. But  no  sectarian  church  organization  is  expedi- 
ent, for  such  an  organization  supplants  the  organization 
of  the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  support 
of  truth,  and  nothing  can  be  expedient  which  is  so  disas- 
trous in  its  results.  But  the  manner  of  distributing  Bi- 
bles,  or  even  writing  and  printing  them,  and  the  plan  for 
evangelizing  the  world,  being  mainly  left  discretionary 
with  us,  we  may  insist  upon  one  plan,  because  it  is  expe- 
dient, and  oppose  another,  because  it  is  not  expedient.  In 
this  way  Paul  and  Barnabas  differed,  one  alleging  that  it 
was  expedient  to  take  Mark  with  them,  and  the  other  that 
it  was  not  expedient.  They  had  no  revelation  on  the  sub- 
ject of  taking  Mark  with  them,  and  consequently  were 
left  to  their  own  discretion,  and  differed  so  warmly  about 


FXDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  335 

it  that  they  did  not  go  together  themselves.  Yet  they 
continued  in  fellowship.  In  the  same  way,  we  may  differ 
with  some  of  our  brethren  warmly  on  the  expediency  of 
the  societies  we  have  formed,  and  they  may  now  refuse  to 
go  with  us,  but  we  hope  to  continue  in  fellowship  with 
them,  and  in  the  same  general  church  organization. 

B.F." 

"  2.  Did  not  the  apostles  organize  each  church  or 
congregation  a  Missionary  Society,  and  a  Lord's  day 
school?" 

"  Answer. — He  organized  every  church  a  Missionary 
Society,  but  he  did  not  confine  every  church  to  its  own 
individual  organization,  in  missionary  and  other  benevo- 
lent enterprises.  Members  of  the  church  have  a  right  to 
do  benevolent  acts  in  their  individual  capacity,  without 
consulting  the  church,  as  we  can  prove  to  the  satisfaction 
of  any  reasonable  brother;  an  individual  church  can  do 
acts  of  benevolence  in  her  individual  capacity,  without 
consulting  other  churches,  and  ten,  fifty  or  a  hundred 
churches  can,  and  has  a  right,  to  fall  upon  an  expedient, 
to  concentrate  their  efforts  upon  benevolent  objects.  This 
was  done  by  the  primitive  churches?  B.  f." 

"  3.  If  God  has  given  us  a  plan,  and  that  is  for  each 
congregation  to  act  independently,  does  the  matter  belong, 
like  that  of  building  a  meeting-house,  to  the  chapter  of 
expedients?  j.  j." 

"Answer. — God  has  given  no  such  plan  as  that  each 
church  shall  act  independently  in  all  its  acts." 

The  sayings  of  Alexander  Campbell  were  never  autho- 
rity to  the  disciples  of  the  Eeformation  in  the  sense  that 
the  discipline  is  authority  in  the  M.  E.  Church.  But  his 
sound  judgment  on  all  matters  of  Scriptural  knowledge 


336  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP 

gave  great  weight  to  his  views  ;  and  during  these  discus- 
sions on  ecclesiastical  polity,  his  language  was  often  quoted 
on  both  sides.  The  Christian  Baptist,  a  monthly  peri- 
odical issued  by  him  for  seven  years,  commencing  in 
August,  1823,  had  as  much  to  do  in  shaping  and  fixing 
the  views  of  the  Reformers,  as  ever  any  one  man's 
writings  had  to  do  with  the  views  of  a  religious  commu- 
nity. For  this  reason,  what  he  said  is  a  matter  of  interest 
to  us.  His  language  is  so  clear  and  definite,  that  we  only 
need  one  or  two  short  extracts  to  understand  him  per- 
fectly. On  page  15  (we  quote  from  D.  S.  Burnet's 
reprint  of  1845),  in  answer  to  the  question,  "  How,  then, 
is  the  Gospel  to  spread  through  the  world?  "  Mr.  Camp- 
bell says : 

"  The  New  Testament  is  the  only  source  of  information 
on  this  topic.  It  teaches  us  that  the  association  called 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  is,  in  propria  forma,  the  only 
institution  of  God  left  on  earth  to  illuminate  and  reform 
the  world.  That  is,  to  speak  in  the  most  definite  and 
intelligible  manner,  a  society  of  men  and  women  having 
in  their  hands  the  oracles  of  God ;  believing  in  their 
hearts  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ ;  confessing  the  truth 
of  Christ  with  their  lips  ;  exhibiting  in  their  lives  the 
morality  of  the  Gospel,  and  walking  in  all  the  Command- 
ments and  Ordinances  of  the  Lord,  blamelessly,  in  the 
sight  of  all  men.  When  spiritual  men,  *.  e.,  men  having 
spiritual  gifts,  or,  as  now  termed,  miraculous  gifts,  were 
withdrawn,  this  institution  was  left  on  earth,  as  the  grand 
scheme  of  Heaven,  to  enlighten  and  reform  the  world. 
An  organized  society  of  this  kind,  modeled  after  the  plan 
taught  in  the  New  Testament,  is  the  consummation  of  the 
manifold  wisdom  of  God  to  exhibit  to  the  world  the  civil- 
izing, the  moralizing,  the  saving  light,  which  renovates 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  337 

the  human  heart,  which  elevates  human  character,  and 
which  prostrates  in  the  dust  all  the  boasted  expedients  of 
ancient  and  modern  times.' ' 

Again  :  On  page  70,  he  defines  and  affirms  of  the 
Church,  as  follows  : 

"  It  is  a  society  of  disciples  professing  to  believe  the 
one  grand  fact,  voluntarily  submitting  to  His  authority  and 
guidance,  having  all  of  them  in  their  baptism  expressed 
their  faith  in  Him  and  allegiance  to  Him,  and  statedly 
meeting  together  in  one  place,  to  walk  in  all  His  Com- 
mandments and  Ordinances.  This  society,  with  its  bishop 
or  bishops,  and  its  deacon  or  deacons,  as  the  case  may 
require,  is  perfectly  independent  of  any  tribunal  on  earth 
called  ecclesiastical.  It  knows  nothing  of  superior  or 
inferior  church  judicatories,  and  acknowledges  no  laws, 
no  canons,  nor  government,  other  than  that  of  the  Monarch 
of  the  Universe  and  his  laws.  This  Church,  having  now 
committed  to  it  the  oracles  of  God,  is  adequate  to  all  the 
purposes  of  illumination  and  reformation  which  entered 
into  the  design  of  its  founder." 

The  force  of  such  teaching  stood  greatly  in  the  way  for 
a  time  after  the  organization  of  the  Bible,  Publication  and 
Missionary  societies.  Preceding  the  «*  Anniversaries"  in 
1851,  Mr.  Burnet  felt  called  on  to  make  the  following 
remarks  on  "The  Christian  Baptist  and  Bible  and  Mis- 
sionary Societies,"  in  an  editorial  for  the  Proclamation 
and  Reformer: 

44  About  the  time  that  the  Christian  Baptist  was  com- 
menced, much  worldlyism  was  admitted  to  a  place  in  the 
list  of  means  employed  in  the  support  of  these  and  kindred 
institutions.  The  editor  and  his  coadjutors,  who,  like 
Luther,  attempted  a  reformation  of  the  Church,  fixed  their 
eyes  upon  these  departures  from  the  simplicity  of  the 


338  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

Gospel  and  Christian  worship,  and  lashed  them  without 
mercy  and  with  great  effect.  Lotteries  to  build  places  of 
worship,  the  appropriation  of  sums  realized  in  horse- 
races, etc.,  etc.,  were  duly  recorded  and  castigated  ;  but, 
unfortunately,  terms  were  often  employed  which  the  same 
writers  would  now  be  far  from  using.  Sometimes  the 
institutions  themselves,  confounded  with  such  abuses, 
shared  in  the  general  condemnation,  and  the  position  of 
many  of  our  churches  was  quite  equivocal  on  the  whole 
subject  of  general  organizations  for  Bible  and  Missionary 
purposes.  To  be  sure,  there  was  much  objection  to  the 
manner  in  which  these  institutions  were  conducted,  as 
well  as  the  way  in  which  they  were  supported.  But  the 
feeling  on  this  subject  has  been  much  modified  for  the 
better.  We  now  have  our  Bible,  Missionary  and  Tract 
institutions,  and  Brother  Campbell  himself  has  accepted 
the  presidency  of  one  of  them.  With  very  little  excep- 
tion, our  brethren  are  warmly  advocating  and  aiding  to 
sustain  them.  Indeed,  some  of  us,  as  documents  will 
show,  never  swerved  from  a  firm  attachment  to  them. 
The  subjoined  extract  from  the  Millennial  Harbinger  will 
serve  to  show  how  that  deservedly  popular  magazine  now 
regards  the  whole  subject,  and  also  serve  to  correct  any 
improper  impression  which  some  of  the  early  articles  of 
the  Christian  Baptist  may  have  been  the  occasion  of 
creating.     Much  of  the  same  kind  could  be  quoted : 

"  In  view  of  the  facts  and  truths  which  we  have  been 
contemplating,  we  cannot  avoid  the  conviction  that  Chris- 
tian churches  were  constituted  by  our  Lord  his  *  primary 
societies'  for  the  work  of  evangelization.  Not  that 
we  believe,  as  some  have  thought,  that  every  church, 
acting  as  an  isolated  body,  ought  to  appoint  and 
sustain  a  missionary  among  the  heathen.     Evidently,  this 


ELDEll   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  339 

is  an  impossibility.  For,  in  many  cases,  a  single  church 
has  no  missionary  to  appoint;  and  in  many  others,  where 
the  missionary  might  be  found,  there  is  a  want  of  ability 
to  sustain  him.  But  it  is  the  duty  of  each  to  do  what  is 
possible.  And  the  fair  conclusion  is,  that,  as  the  realm 
of  heathenism  is  before  the  churches,  as  a  common  field, 
and  as  the  work  of  evangelization  lies  before  them,  as  a 
common  cause,  they  should  become  *  co-workers '  for  its 
prosecution.  And  where  scattered  bodies  of  people  are 
called  to  act  together  for  a  common  end,  the  mode  which 
reason  and  Scripture  both  suggest,  is,  that  of  acting 
together,  by  means  of  ■  messengers  ■  or  delegates.  We 
do  not  believe  that  the  churches  were  ever  called  to  act 
together  by  means  of  delegates  for  a  government,  or  from 
the  exercise  of  supervision  over  each  other ;  but  that  they 
are  called  thus  to  act  for  the  common  object  of  evangel- 
ization. When  bodies  of  delegates  are  appointed  and 
convened  for  such  a  purpose,  to  carry  out  the  great  aim 
of  the  commission,  whether  they  spring  from  one  small 
district,  and  are  called  an  *  Association,'  or  from  a  still 
larger  one,  and  are  called  a  'General  Convention,'  we 
believe  that  it  may  be  truly  said  of  them,  in  the  language 
of  Paul,  *  They  are  the  messengers  of  the  churches,  and 
the  glory  of  Christ.'  " 

The  opposition  made  itself  felt,  so  far  that  in  the  next 
year  after  the  organization  of  the  Missionary  Society,  an 
important  amendment,  "  in  the  spirit  of  conciliation," 
became  necessary.  The  following  is  Mr.  Burnet's  edito- 
rial note  of  it : 

44  During  the  meetings,  in  accordance  with  the  notices 
given  last  year,  there  was  opportunity  given  for  suggested 
amendments  to  the  constitutions  of  the  several  societies, 
and  after  much  discussion,  the  more  completely  to  perfect 


340  THE    LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

these  instruments,  the  whole  subject  was  referred  to  D. 
S.  Burnet,  Jno.  T.  Johnson,  L.  H.  Jameson,  T.  J.  Melish, 
Jno.  T.  Jones,  John  F.  Fisk  and  Jacob  Burnet,  Jr.,  as  far 
as  the  Bible  and  Missionary  societies  were  concerned,  and 
the  constitution  of  the  Tract  society,  to  A.  Campbell,  D. 
S.  Burnet,  James  Challen  and  T.  J.  Melish,  by  which 
committees  the  constitutions  of  all  the  societies  were  so 
amended  as  to  abolish,  hereafter,  any  future  life-member- 
ships, and  life-directorships,  so  as  not  to  interfere  with 
rights  already  vested.  These  conclusions  were  in  the 
spirit  of  conciliation,  arrived  at  with  great  unanimity. 
Upon  the  whole,  there  was  more  unanimity  than  last  year, 
and  other  valuable  advances  made  concerning  which  we 
shall  speak  hereafter." 

But  the  opposition  gradually  died  away,  and  within 
three  years  almost  entirely  ceased.  Alexander  Campbell 
approved,  and  was  for  years  nominally  president,  although 
so  advanced  in  years  and  feeble  in  strength  that  he  never 
presided  over  its  sessions.  He  was  present  a  number  of 
times,  and  read  mi  address  at  the  opening  of  its  sessions. 
The  American  Christian  Review  shortly  rose  to  the  ze- 
nith of  its  influence,  and  its  editor,  ill  the  full  possession 
of  his  vigor,  gave  the  Society  his  unqualified  support. 
Most  of  the  leading  men  among  the  Reformers  attended 
the  meetings,  and  by  their  presence  gave  it  countenance, 
although  only  a  few  really  took  any  active  part  in  its  do- 
ings. The  Society  apparently  had  a  clear  field  before  it, 
and  its  friends  were  jubilant  over  its  grand  success. 

In  these  days  of  its  exaltation,  the  American  Christian 
Missionary  Society  assumed  for  itself  that  it  represented 
a  "  Christian  brotherhood  at  large." 

Alexander  Campbell,  in  the  days  of  his  activity,  had 
Compiled  a  Hymn  Book  which  for  years  was  the  standard 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  341 

psalmody  among  the  Reformers.  Many  began  to  regard 
it  as  out  of  date  and  greatly  needing  a  careful  revision. 
Finally,  the  Missionary  Society  presumed  to  appoint  a 
"  Hymn  Book  Committee,"  who  presently  prepared  anew 
compilation,  in  the  "  introduction  "  to  which  it  was  an- 
nounced that,  "  This  Hymn  Book  is  the  result  of  an 
agreement  between  Alexander  Campbell — the  former 
proprietor  of  the  Christian  Hymn  Book — and  the  Chris- 
tian brotherhood  at  huge,  as  represented  in  the  American 
Christian  Missionary  Society. "  The  term  "  Brotherhood 
of  Disciples,"  was  used  in  the  same  connection.  The 
production  of  a  new  Hymn  Book,  and  especially  when  the 
need  of  a  new  one  is  generally  conceded,  could  hardly  be- 
come a  source  of  strife.  The  new  book  gave  pretty  gen- 
eral satisfaction,  and  the  whole  affair  passed  with  just  a 
moiety  of  grumbling,  that  "  making  hymn  books  was  not 
exactly  missionary  work."  Sundry  measures  looking  to 
education,  especially  to  the  education  of  ministers,  came 
up,  most  frequently,  however,  in  the  State  Auxiliary  So- 
cieties, and  were  sometimes  objected  to  as  out  of  place, 
but  generally  suffered  to  pass.  On  the  question  of  slavery 
the  Society  decided  that  it  was  not  empowered  to  act, 
and  adopted  the  views  entertained  by  Mr.  Franklin.  The 
ultra  anti-slavery  men  for  this  reason  withdrew  and  organ- 
ized a  "  North  western  Christian  Missionary  Society.'' 
The  Society  was  at  the  summit  of  its  popularity  when  the 
war  of  secession  came  on.  The  popular  excitement  rose 
almost  to  a  phrensy,  and  few  could  withstand  it.  The 
American  Christian  Review,  then,  without  doubt,  the 
most  popular  religious  periodical  among  the  Disciples, 
was  opposing  the  enlistment  of  Christians  as  soldiers, 
which  led  to  a  charge  of  "  disloyalty  "  against  the  Disci- 
ples generally.     Many  members  felt  that  the  accusation 


342  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

was  unjust,  denied  that  the  Review  fairly  represented  the 
"brotherhood,"  and  demanded  an  expression  from  the 
Missionary  Society  of  disapproval  of  the  rebellion  and  of 
sympathy  with  the  government.  A  series  of  •«  war  reso- 
lutions "  was  passed  by  all  the  Conferences,  Synods,  As- 
sociations, etc.,  of  the  denominations.  Similar  resolu- 
tions were  introduced  into  the  animal  meeting  of  the 
American  Christian  Missionary  Society  in  1861.  A  point 
of  order  was  instantly  raised.  The  chairman  decided 
that,  under  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  the  resolutions 
were  in  order.  An  appeal  was  taken  from  the"  chair  to 
the  house,  and  the  chairman  was  overruled.  Great  ex- 
citement prevailed,  but  that  ended  the  matter  for  that 
year  so  far  as  the  Society  was  concerned.  People  already 
prejudiced  against  the  Disciples  appealed  to  this  as  unde- 
niable evidence  that  the"  Campbellite  Church  "  was  a  dis- 
loyal church.  The  next  year  the  resolutions  were  again 
introduced,  and  again  the  point  of  order  was  raised. 
Vice-President  Errett  was  in  the  chair.  With  an  expla- 
nation that  his  decision  was  not  that  of  the  person  in  the 
chair,  but  that  of  the  chairman,  he  decided,  as  instructed 
by  the  vote  of  the  meeting  the  year  previous,  that  the 
resolutions  were  not  in  order.  Appeal  was  taken  and  this 
time  the  resolutions  were  voted  to  be  in  order.  They 
were  passed.*  There  were  present  at  the  time  a  large 
number  who  would  have  voted  against  the  resolutions 
anywhere.     There  were  many  more  who  accepted  the  sen- 


nit may  be  added  that  in  18G1,  after  these  resolutions  were  declared  out  of 
order,  the  Missionary  Society  was  adjourned  for  a  few  minutes,  and  the  mem- 
bers convened  in  a  mass  meeting  as  individuals.  A  chairman  was  chosen 
and  the  resolutions  were  introduced  and  passed  with  but  little  opposition. 
This  showed  that  the  action  of  the  Society  was  not  upon  the  merits  of  the  res- 
olution*, but  upon  the  propriety  and  right  of  such  action  in  a  Missionary  So- 
ciety. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  343 

timents  of  the  resolutions  politically,  but  believed  that 
the  Missionary  Society  had  gone  beyond  its  limit  in  acting 
at  all  upon  a  political  question.  Both  these  parties  there- 
after withdrew  from  the  support  of  the  Society,  and  it  be- 
gan to  decline.  The  general  devastation  created  by  the 
war  cut  off  very  much  of  the  financial  support  which  the 
Society  had  received. 

Between  these  two  influences,  the  Missionary  Society 
had  so  far  lost  public  favor  that  by  the  close  of  the  war 
public  opinion  was  ready  to  be  turned  against  it.  In  1865 
the  discussion  of  the  propriety  and  righteousness  of  such 
organizations  wTas  renewed.  The  direct  attack  was,  of 
course,  upon  the  American  Christian  Missionary  Society, 
because  it,  with  the  auxiliary  societies,  was  the  only  gen- 
eral convocation  among  the  Disciples. 

We  shall  attempt  no  outline  of  the  argument,  as  the 
points  made  in  it,  excepting  the  charge  that  the  Society 
had  failed  in  the  work  for  which  it  was  organized,  are  be- 
fore the  reader.  The  main  question  involved  was  the 
pure  Congregationalism  to  which  the  Reformers  had  been 
educated  by  Alexander  Campbell  in  the  Christian  Bap- 
tist, and  by  Barton  W.  Stone  in  the  Christian  Messenger. 

A  number  of  the  periodicals  of  the  Reformation  refused 
their  columns  to  the  discussion.  But  the  Review  was 
opened  to  it,  and  as  it  circulated  everywhere,  the  people 
generally  were  awakened  to  a  consideration  of  the  subject. 
Mr.  Franklin  himself  for  some  three  years  took  no  part 
in  the  discussion.  But  it  was  noticed  that  he  had  ceased 
to  plead  for  the  Society,  and  that  his  son  was  one  of  its 
most  persistent  opposers  in  the  columns  of  the  JReview. 
Many  suspected  that  he  was  the  instigator  of  the  articles 
written  by  his  son,  and  this  increased  the  personal  oppo- 
sition to  him.     But  the  fact  is  that  his  mind  was  under^ 


344  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF 

going  a  change  in  regard  to  the  denominationalism  of  the 
Reformation.  He  had  been  a  fervent  advocate  of  the  so- 
cieties, and  his  influence  had  contributed  in  no  small  de- 
gree to  make  them  what  they  were.  But  he  was  disap- 
pointed in  the  results.  He  began  to  conclude  that  they 
had  not  done  what  they  were  expected  to  do,  and  had  as- 
sumed a  prerogative  as  a  representative  assembly  which 
did  not  belong  to  them.  And  it  was  not  long  until  it  be- 
came evident  that  his  sympathies  were  with  the  opposi- 
tion, although  he  said  nothing. 

In  the  languishing  condition  of  the  Misssionary  Society 
an  effort  at  conciliation  and  compromise  was  made.  A 
committee  of  twenty  persons  was  chosen  to  take  the  whole 
matter  under  advisement  and  report  at  a  convention  to  be 
held  in  Louisville  in  1869.  The  committee  reported  for 
the  dissolution  of  the  Missionary  Society  and  the  substi- 
tution therefor  of  a  "  plan  of  Church  cooperation,"  which 
after  its  adoption  became  known  to  the  public  as  the 
"  Louisville  Plan."  The  principal  features  of  this  plan 
can  be  readily  learned  from  the  following  extracts  from 
the  constitution : 

Article  I.  This  organization  shall  be  called  the  Gene- 
ral Christian  Missionary  Convention. 

Art.  II.  Its  object  shall  be  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  in 
this  and  in  other  lands,  according  to  the  following  plan  of 
church  co-operation  : 

Section  1.  (a)  There  shall  be  a  General  Board  and 
Corresponding  Secretary. 

(6)  A  Board  and  Corresponding  Secretary  for  each 
State  to  co-operate  with  the.  General  Board. 

(c)  District  Boards  in  each  State,  and  a  Secretary  in 
each  district,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  visit  all  the 
churches  in  his  district,  in  order  to  induce  them  to  accept 
the  missionary  work  as  a  part  of  their  Christian  duty. 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  345 

Sec.  2.  There  shall  be  an  annual  convention  in  each 
district,  the  business  of  which  shall  be  transacted  by  mes- 
sengers appointed  by  the  churches  ;  an  annual  convention 
in  each  State,  the  business  of  which  shall  be  conducted 
by  messengers  sent  from  the  churches  of  the  State,  it  be- 
ing understood,  however,  that  two  or  more  churches,  or 
all  the  churches  of  a  district,  may  be  represented  by  mes- 
sengers mutually  agreed  upon  ;  and  an  annual  general 
convention,  the  business  of  which  shall  be  conducted  by 
messengers  from  the  State  conventions. 

Sec.  3.  The  General  Convention  shall  annually  appoint 
nine  brethren,  who,  together  with  the  Corresponding 
Secretaries  of  the  States  and  the  Presidents  of  the  State 
Boards,  shall  constitute  a  General  Board,  who  shall  meet 
annually  to  transact  the  general  missionary  business,  and 
appoint  a  committee  of  five  to  superintend  the  work  in 
the  intervals  between  their  annual  meetings. 

Mr.  Franklin  endorsed  the  plan  as  a  good  compromise 
measure  and  tried  to  make  it  succeed.  But  he  could  not 
work  in  such  spirit  and  hope  as  he  had  done  for  the  So- 
ciety, nnd  the  Disciples  would  not  give  it  their  moral  and 
material  support.  The  discussion  in  the  paper  was  shut 
off  for  some  time;  but  this  course  gave  dissatisfaction  to 
many  persons,  and  availed  nothing  toward  the  success  of 
the  new  plan.  The  parties  for  and  against  it  corresponded 
very  nearly  with  the  parties  already  described  and  known 
as  "progress"  and  M  anti-progress.' '  Finally,  Mr. 
Franklin  turned  against  the  new  arrangement  and  pro- 
nounced it  a  failure.  The  outcry  at  this  change  of  front 
on  the  part  of  the  Review  was  very  great.  A  flood  of 
discussion  followed,  a  great  deal  of  which  was  wholly  un- 
called for  and  very  intemperate.  \\re  shall  only  make 
16 


346  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

room  for  the  following  editorial,  which  appeared  in  the 
Review  of  January  11,  1876: 

"In  another  column  the  reader  will  find  an  article  from 
our  worthy  brother,  John  B.  Cor  wine,  fmd  we  have  two 
more  from  him,  equally  as  clear  and  conclusive  as  the  one 
-we  publish,  in  which  he  proves  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt 
that  the  editor  of  the  Review  is  not  infallible,  or  certainly 
that  he  has  not  been  in  his  past  history ;  that  he  recom- 
mended the  Louisville  Plan  in  1869,  but  now  opposes  it ! 
This  he  has  shown  up  with  much  ability,  and  greatly  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  editor  of  the  Review.  True,  that 
matter  has  been  explained  in  our  columns  again  and 
again ;  but,  then,  it  must  be  explained  and  discussed 
more  and  more.  When  other  men  commit  a  blunder,  and 
afterward  confess  it,  they  are  generally  forgiven,  but 
there  appears  to  be  no  pardon  for  the  editor  of  the 
Review!  He  has  made  a  blunder  and  the  law  is,  *  The 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die.'  Ezek.  xviii.  20.  If  he 
swore  the  horse  was  sixteen  feet  high,  he  must  stick  to  it. 
If  the  editor  of  the  Review  once  went  for  the  society 
scheme,  wrote  and  published  many  things  in  favor  of  it, 
and  thought  it  was  right,  he  must  think  so  forever,  in 
defiance  of  all  his  experience  in  the  matter,  the  demons- 
trations he  has  had,  a  more  mature  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  thorough  knowledge  of  them,  and  the  history 
of  religious  operations ;  and  though  fully  convinced  that 
the  whole  of  these  schemes  are  wrong,  he  must  continue 
to  write  and  publish  as  much  as  ever  in  favor  of  them. 
Is  not  a  man  to  be  allowed  to  learn  anything  in  a  public 
life  of  forty  years?  Or  may  all  other  men  learn  some- 
thing, and  when  convinced  of  error,  turn  from  it,  but  the 
editor  of  the  Review  must  never  learn  anything,  nor 
change  his  course  from  wrong  to  right?     Must  he  carry 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  347 

the  meal  in  one  end  of  the  sack,  and  a  stone,  to  balance 
it,  in  the  other  end  forever,  though  he  has  learned,  that, 
by  dividing  the  meal  and  leaving  the  stone,  he  can  carry 
twice  as  much? 

"  As  we  have  said,  we  have  several  documents  before 
us  from  our  worthy  Bro.  Corwine,  in  which  he  has 
labored  the  subject,  brought  it  up  from  different  angles, 
and  showed  up  the  editor  of  the  Review  in  a  most  mas- 
terly manner.  He  has  anticipated  the  reluctance  the 
editor  would  feel  in  publishing  the  exposition  of  his  incon- 
sistencies in  his  own  sheet,  and  demanded  a  return  of  the 
documents,  if  not  published,  that  he  might  publish  them 
in  some  other  paper.  This,  of  course,  alarmed  the  editor 
of  the  Review  and  brought  hiin  to  terms.  He  must 
therefore,  succumb  and  publish  these  documents,  and  let 
his  readers  see  what  those  attentive  had  long  known  :  that 
he  has  said  many  things  favoring  and  even  advocating  the 
different  society  schemes  we  have  had  ;  probably  as  much 
and  with  as  much  force  as  any  other  man  among  us.  We 
confess  that  the  editor  of  the  Review  is  fairly  and  fully 
convicted  by  our  able  Bro.  Corwine,  of  having  been  a  so- 
ciety man  and  saying  man}'  things  favorable  to  the  society 
schemes.  This  our  columns  abundantly  show.  We  do 
not,  therefore,  propose  to  stand  any  trial,  but  come  for- 
ward in  open  court  and  plead  guilty.  We  are  at  the 
mercy  of  our  judges,  and  can  only  beg  their  clemency. 
May  it  please  their  honors  to  hear  us  a  few  words? 

"  We  were  not  preseut  when  the  first  society  among 
us  was  born.  We  never  did  anything  toward  originating 
any  one  of  the  societies  we  have  had.  Our  name  was  put 
on  the  list,  without  our  consent  or  knowledge,  as  one  of 
the  Committee  of  Twenty,  appointed  to  devise  a  plan 
previous  to  the  bringing  out  of  the  Louisville  Plan,  but 


348  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

we  were  not  present  with  the  Committee  at  any  time  dur- 
ing their  work  on  it,  did  no  part  of  the  work,  and  had  no 
idea  of  having  anything  to  do  with  it.  We  shall  have  oc- 
casion to  refer  to  this  matter  again  further  on. 

*'  We  held  all  conventions  at  a  discount  for  many 
years,  in  the  early  part  of  our  operations,  and  stood 
pretty  firmly  on  the  position  taken  in  the  early  articles  in 
the  Christian  Baptist.  But  we  continued  to  attend  the 
conventions  generally,  and  found  much  enjoyment  in 
meeting  so  many  men  all  enlisted  in  the  same  work.  Not 
only  so,  but  explanations  were  constantly  being  made, 
that  ©ur  conventions  were  only  advisory,  voluntary,  and 
had  no  authority — that  they  were  limited  strictly  to  mis- 
sionary  ivork,  and  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  churches.  We  also  had  a  clause  in  the 
constitution  of  some  of  our  societies  limiting  the  conven- 
tions to  missionary  work.  With  this  view,  and  trying  all 
the  time  to  be  satisfied,  we  became  reconciled  to  them, 
and  thought  we  had  them  safe.  That  great  man  and 
master  spirit,  Jacob  Creath,as  he  has  recently  mentioned, 
wrote  us  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  objecting  to  conven- 
tions as  dangerous  bodies,  and  entreating  us  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  them.  We  published  some  of  his  arti- 
cles, and  probably  declined  some  of  them,  making  the 
best  defence  we  could. 

"We  at  one  time  took  the  position  of  Corresponding 
Secretary  for  the  General  Society  for  a  short  time— six 
months,  if  our  memory  is  not  at  fault — agreeing  to  give 
it  one-half  our  time,  and  to  receive  a  compensation  of  six 
hundred  dollars  a  year.  Our  recollection  is,  that  wo 
received  three  hundred  dollars  for  our  services.  We  never 
heard  anything  about  our  '•  exacting''  the  pay,  or  there 
being  any  necessity  for  it ;  but  it  was  the  understanding 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  349 

that  we  should  have  it,  and  we  received  it.  We  beg  to  be 
forgiven  this  wrong.  We  soon  saw  that,  though  we  were 
doing  work  enough  and  more  than  enough  to  earn  what 
was  given  us,  that  we  were  not  doing  the  cause  of  the 
Lord  good  enough  to  justify  our  continuing  to  receive  it, 
and,  as  the  best  thing  we  could  see  that  we  could  do  was 
to  stop  it,  we  promptly  resigned.  This  was  the  only  three 
hundred  dollars  we  ever  received  for  labor  in  the  cause 
that  we  are  satisfied  did  not  do  any  good. 

"  We  have  given  close  attention  to  the  money  solicited 
and  contributed  to  the  Bible  Society,  the  first  one  created 
among  us,  and  what  went  with  it,  and  we  are  satisfied  that 
it  amounted  to  nothing  of  any  importance.  That  society 
has  been  long  since  abolished.  We  then  brought  into 
existence  a  Publication  Society.  After  all  the  fine  things 
said  in  favor  of  that  scheme,  in  which  we  participated,  the 
logic  of  events  compelled  us  to  abolish  it  as  a  useless 
appendage.  We  can  not  tell  the  amount  of  money  con- 
tributed for  these  two  enterprises  ;  but  whatever  it  was  it 
went  for  nothing.  A  few  years  since,  a  Publishing  Asso- 
ciation was  established  in  Cleveland,  O.,  reputed  to  have 
subscription  to  the  amount  of  $25,000.  That  money,  so 
far  as  paid,  was  all  sunk  and  no  capital  stock  left.  Some 
kind  of  a  stock  company  has  been  set  on  foot  in  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  purporting  to  have  shares  to  the  amount  of  $100,000. 
That,  we  think,  is  in  doubt.  We  sent  a  missionary  to 
Jerusalem,  and  spent  a  considerable  sum  of  money  on  that 
mission,  but  have  nothing  to  show  for  it.  We  sent  a 
missionary  to  Liberia,  and  he  died  before  he  had  time  to 
do  anything.  That  fell  through.  We  spent  many  thou- 
sands on  a  mission  in  Jamaica,  and  that  has  fallen  and 
amounts  to  but  little. 

m  In  the  past  six  years  we  have  paid  to  one  man  for 


350  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP 

salary,  traveling  expenses,  stamps,  stationery,  etc.,  some 
$15,000  to  $18,000,  and  to  half  a  dozen  State  Secretaries  a 
little  less  each.  We  have  had  agents  in  the  field  that  did 
not  raise  money  enough  to  pay  their  salaries.  We  have 
had  schemes  for  building  meeting-houses  by  societies,  and 
men  out  raising  money  for  these  enterprises,  and  money 
has  been  paid,  but  houses  not  built.  We  do  not  condemn 
the  good  men  that  have  been  in  these  schemes  and  advo- 
cated  them.  We  did  the  same.  But  must  we  shut  our 
eyes  on  matters  of  fact,  and  not  only  believe  without  evi- 
dence, but  against  evidence  ;  against  the  stern  logic  of 
events  ;  without  a  precept  or  an  example  in  the  Bible  that 
these  schemes  are  good,  wise  and  scriptural?  We  can  go 
for  them  no  further  nor  longer,  without  going  against 
light  and  knowledge,  the  clearest  convictions  of  our  inmost 
soul.  With  what  face  can  we  come  before  the  people, 
with  all  these  matters  before  us,  and  ask  for  more  money 
to  go  into  any  of  these  schemes  ? 

"  Shall  we  talk  of  "  going  into  all  the  world  and  preach- 
ing the  gospel  to  every  creature  ?  "  There  is  no  preaching 
the  gospel  in  these  schemes.  They  have  deceived  and  dis- 
appointed us,  and  proved  themselves  to  be  useless  for 
good.  They  have  demonstrated  themselves  to  be  danger- 
ous to  the  safety  of  the  church  and  the  gospel  itself,  and 
what  remains  for  us  to  do  is  to  let  them  alone ;  as  Bro. 
Creath  says,  "have  nothing  to  do  with  them."  We  know 
how  the  commission  reads,  but  there  is  nothing  in  that 
calling  for  the  people  of  the  Lord  to  send  up  their  money 
to  some  stall-fed  agent,  who  is  standing  ready  to  catch  it, 
with  the  idea  that  he  will  see  to  having  the  gospel  preached 
in  all  the  world.  You  see  to  it  that  what  you  give  goes 
to  the  support  of  some  man  who  is  preaching.  Do  not 
submit  to  the  idea  that  you  can  give  the  money,  but  can 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  351 

not  tell  where  to  apply  it.  Tell  the  agent  to  go  and  preach  ; 
do  good  work  ;  save  sinners,  and  you  will  help  him  ;  but 
that  you  have  no  use  for  him  as  "a  middle  man  ! "  We 
want  the  agents  in  the  field  at  work,  and  not  perched 
somewhere  waiting  for  the  money  to  come  out  to  them,  to 
send  somebody  else  to  preach.  Let  them  go  out  and 
work,  earn  and  eat  their  own  bread,  and  not  make  the 
poor  preacher,  that  does  the  work,  dependent  on  them  for 
his  rations.     See  to  dealing  out  the  rations  yourselves. 

"As  we  said  before,  we  had  no  hand  in  getting  up  the 
Louisville  Plan  ;  but  after  we  heard  it  read,  and  saw  the 
unanimity  of  feeling  that  appeared  to  prevail,  we  feared 
that  if  we  refused  to  acquiesce  in  it  we  would  appear  con- 
tentious and  in  the  way  of  what  appeared  generally  to  be 
regarded  as  a  good  thing,  and  made  up  our  mind  to  go 
for  it,  and  did  so  in  good  faith.  Probably,  under  all  the 
circumstances,  it  was  well  as  any  way  that  we  did  so,  and 
thus  give  the  matter  a  fair  trial.  We  tried  to  carry  it, 
till  we  found  we  could  not,  with  the  incumbent  at  the  head 
of  it.  But  we  do  not  now  go  against  it  merely  because  it 
is  not  a  good  human  scheme,  or  because  it  did  not  succeed  ; 
but  because  it  is  a  human  scheme,  with  the  intention  to  go 
against  all  schemes  of  the  kind.  We  put  it  and  all  the 
conventions  and  human  creeds  on  the  same  footing,  and 
go  against  them  because  they  are  human;  originated  in 
human  wisdom  and  not  in  the  wisdoin  of  God. 

"We  make  no  issue  about  spreading  the  gospel,  or 
about  State  lines;  we  pay  as  little  attention  to  State  lines 
as  anybody.  Our  issue  is  about  schemes  that  do  not 
spread  the  gospel  at  all — that  do  not  support  the  men  that 
spread  the  gospel — schemes  that  raise  but  little  money, 
and  give  all  that  to  men  that  do  not  spread  the  gospel. 
We  want  apostolical  example,  practice — that  raised  more, 
did  more  workr  and  supported  the  men  that  did  the  work.1* 


352  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN. 

The  "Louisville  Plan"  failed  so  completely  that,  for 
the  last  two  or  three  years  of  the  effort  to  work  by  it, 
there  was  not  money  enough  raised  to  pay  the  salary  of 
the  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  it  was  therefore  aban- 
doned. 

A  "Foreign  Mission* '  has  been  since  created,  and 
excites  no  opposition,  because  there  seems  to  be  no  dispo- 
sition manifested  in  its  management  to  carry  it  beyond  its 
legitimate  sphere  of  missionary  work. 

The  Disciples  now  comprising  the  Reformation  exist  at 
present  in  the  simplest  form  of  Congregationalism.  There 
is  no  vestige  of  a  federation,  nor  anything  which  can  be 
recognized  as  a  representative  assembly.  And  it  seems 
to  be  a  fixed  purpose  among  them  to  continue  in  this  con- 
dition, as  the  best  in  which  to  combat  the  partisan  spirit 
begotten  by  denominational  organizations. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

/TvHAT  many  of  the  Disciples  were  alienated  from 
J_  Benjamin  Franklin  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life  is 
part  of  his  history.  The  circumstances  that  led  to 
this  alienation  are  part  of  the  history  of  the  times  in 
which  he  lived.  If  it  were  a  mere  personal  matter  between 
him  and  them,  the  propriety  of  keeping  the  facts  in  re- 
membrance by  so  public  a  record  as  this  might  reasona- 
bly be  questioned.  But  the  only  reason  why  so  many, 
not  only  withdrew  their  support  from  him  and  his  Review, 
but  became  active  in  the  effort  to  counteract  his  influence 
and  to  break  down  his  periodical,  was  his  inveterate 
opposition  to  their  methods  and  measures.  He  was  ac- 
cused of  personalities,  and  presently,  of  general  charges 
where  he  could  give  no  specifications.  He  was  berated  as 
an  editorial  pope,  who,  elevated  by  some  unfortunate  cir- 
cumstance of  the  times  to  a  position  of  immense  power, 
hurled  his  anathemas  upon  the  head  of  all  who  chanced 
to  offend  him,  while  the  next  breath  of  the  complainer, 
pronounced  him  an  unlettered  ignoramus  and  unworthy 
of  dignified  consideration.  He  was  assailed  by  vociferous 
denunciations  from  the  very  men  who  had  just  been  try- 
ing to  overwhelm  him  with  their  silent  contempt. 

The  history  of  the  Reformation' for  the  past  quarter  of 
a  century  is  not  altogether  pleasant  to  dwell  upon. 
Were  we  acting  from  mere  inclination,  we  would  gladly 
withhold  some  facts  that  now  form  a  large  part  of  the 
later  history  of  a  people  whom  God  has  called  to  a  great 
and  noble  work.     We  would  greatly  rejoice  to  see  the 


354  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP 

healing  of  the  wounds  made  by  years  of  disagreement 
and  discussion  often  characterized  by  wrangling  and  strife. 
But  it  is  our  duty  to  record  facts  and  not  to  make  them. 
The  sacred  history  which  God  has  given  for  "  a  lamp  to 
our  feet  and  a  light  upon  our  pathway,"  is  as  faithful  in  re- 
cording the  idolatries  and  wanderings  of  the  Jews  as  in 
the  narrations  of  their  obedience  to  God.  A  disposition  to 
cover  up  iniquity  was  one  of  the  charges  brought  by  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  against  the  "  progressives,''  while  they 
accused  him  of  thrusting  forward  and  giving  unnecessary 
publicity  to  matters  that  would  better  be  hid.  Deception 
and  dissembling  are  not  to  be  enumerated  among  his 
faults.  If  he  disliked  the  course  pursued  by  a  writer  or 
a  preacher  he  hesitated  not  to  say  so,  and  spoke  so  plainly 
that  everybody  understood  him.  This  was  so  well  known 
that  when  he  complimented  any  one  his  utterances  were 
taken  at  the  full  force  of  their  meaning.  He  certainly 
never  flattered  anybody. 

We  have  already  given  a  summary  of  the  questions  that 
gave  rise  to  serious  discussions,  and  made  mention  of 
some  of  the  persons  concerned  in  matters  of  public  in- 
terest. We  shall,  in  the  present  chapter,  give  additional 
details  which  will  help  to  a  better  understanding  of  mat- 
ters heretofore  passed  too  lightly. 

The  speculations  upon  the  "  inner  consciousness  "  of 
Christians  appear  to  have  been  started  by  the  promulga- 
tion of  Prof.  R.  Richardson's  views  in  regard  to  the 
indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  held  the  views  enter- 
tained by  many  others  before  and  since,  that  the  promise 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  paraclete  was  not  to  the  apostles 
only  but  to  all  Christians.  The  Spirit,  personally  present 
in  the  believer,  operates  upon  his  spiritual  nature  so  as  to 
quicken  his  perception  of   truth    and  give  him  a  better 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  355 

realization  of  the  truth  of  the  promises  than  can  come  of 
a  mere  intellectual  conception. 

Some  younger  men,  so  lately  from  school  that  the  defi- 
nitions of  mental  philosophy  filled  the  angle  of  their 
intellectual  vision,  were  fascinated  with  Prof.  Richardson's 
reasonings.  And  when  he  wrote  his  essays  against  Locke's 
philosophy,  these  younger  men  became  inflated  with  the 
conceit  that  a  new  phase  of  the  Reformation  was  about  to 
be  developed,  which  would  eclipse  all  that  Alexander 
Campbell  had  done.  It  was  more  than  intimated  that  Mr. 
Campbell  had  done  well  in  recalling  attention  to  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  Christianity;  but  he  and  others 
had  dwelt  long  enough  on  "first  principles,"  and  the 
Disciples  should  leave  these  and  "go  on  to  perfection." 
They  began  to  talk  and  write  about  an  "objective"  and 
"subjective,,  religion.  The  "inner  consciousness"  of  the 
Christian,  quickened  by  the  power  of  the  ever  present  and 
powerful  paraclete,  seizes  upon  "the  things  of  the  spirit" 
and  en  joys  them  as  present  realities.  This  is  the  subjective 
religion  which  makes  the  Christian  happier  and  more 
spiritual.  The  masses  of  the  Disciples,  who  live  in  hope 
and  walk  by  faith,  believing  all  that  prophets  and  apostles 
have  spoken  by  the  Spirit,  and  trusting  the  promises  of 
their  Lord,  were  held,  with  an  affectation  of  pity  for 
them,  as  plodding  along,  after  the  way  of  Locke's  explo- 
ded philosophy,  with  only  an  objective  religion — they 
were  blinded,  and  trusting  only  in  words  and  ideas  where 
they  were  entitled  to  the  things  represented  by  the  words. 
If  any  one  quoted  to  them  the  language  of  Peter,  "In 
whom  (Christ)  though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing, 
ye  rejoice,"  they  did  not  attempt  a  different  exegesis. 
The  answer  was  "That  is  a  mere  objective  view  of  Christi- 
airity."     There  is  a  "higher  law"  of  our  nature,  a  spiritual 


356  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OP 

perception  which  is  to  be  quickened  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  without  which  quickening  none  can  be  spiritually 
minded  or  enjoy  the  things  of  the  Spirit. 

There  is  no  subject  on  which  the  promulgation  of  a  dif- 
ferent view  from  that  current  among  the  Disciples  could 
have  created  a  greater  sensation.  They  had  fought  and 
won  a  tremendous  battle  on  abstract  spiritual  regeneration, 
and  the  doctrine  of  total  hereditary  depravity,  out  of  which 
it  grew.  This  doctrine  of  an  "inner  consciousness"  was 
regarded  as  a  mere  revival  of  the  old  dogma,  and  there 
was  but  little  patience  manifested  towards  its  advocates. 
Mr.  Franklin  attacked  it  at  once,  as  calculated  to  subvert 
the  Gospel  wherever  it  was  believed,  and  was  by  no  means 
sparing  of  the  men  who  took  the  lead  in  its  advocacy.  We 
have  already  given  account  of  his  tilt  with  Mr.  Anderson 
in  regard  to  Prof.  Richardson's  essays.  The  younger  men 
he  regarded  as  at  once  more  ultra  and  as  having  less  dis- 
cretion  in  the  advocacy  of  the  theory.  Many  regarded 
him  as  being  too  severe,  and  as  giving  too  much  prominence 
to  obscure  men.  But  he  did  not  think  so.  He  traveled 
as  widely  as  any  one  man  could,  and  carried  on  an  extended 
correspondence  with  persons  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
He  insisted  that  there  were  preachers  enough  in  it  to  make 
an  extended  "defection,"  if  their  work  was  not  "nipped 
if]  the  bud."  The  pai  ties  were  not  mere  friendless  adven- 
turers. And  they  were  complicated  with  other  matters, 
which  had  by  that  time  begun  to  disturb  the  harmony 
among  the  Disciples,  so  as  to  awaken  the  sympathy  of 
many  who  would  doubtless  have  accepted  their  theory  had 
not  the  exposure  been  so  prompt  and  so  thorough  that  the 
masses  soon  came  to  understand  the  bearing  of  the  specu- 
lation, and  rejected  it. 

The  three  persons  who  became  the  most  prominent  in 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  357 

the  agitation  of  this  subject  were,  Thomas  J.  Melish,  of 
Cincinnati,  I.  N.  Carman,  of  Ashland,  Ohio,  and  W.  S. 
Eussell,  of  Jacksonville,  Illinois.  These  tried  to  persuade 
the  people,  and  probably  believed  themselves,  that  theirs 
was  a  new  doctrine.  Yet  there  are  some  circumstances 
indicating  that  their  new  views  would  be  so  much  more 
acceptable  to  the  religions  parties  around  them  that  they 
would  be  regarded  as  orthodox.  They  evidently  sought 
to  fraternize  with  those  parties,  and,  when  they  failed  to 
establish  themselves  among  the  Disciples,  they  readily 
found  more  congenial  ecclesiastical  relations  among  the 
Baptists. 

"The  defection, "  as  Mr.  Franklin  called  it,  is  a  frequent 
subject  in  the  Reviews  issued  during  the  years  1857  to 
1861  inclusive.  His  course  in  opposition  to  it  may  best 
be  learned  from  his  own  writings,  and  we  shall  have  him 
speak  for  himself  as  far  as  possible.  In  an  editorial,  April 
12th,  1859,  he  said: 

"We  have  tried  to  construe  things  we  have  seen  among 
us  in  a  favorable  light,  and  to  keep  up  the  conviction  that 
no  evil  was  intended.  But  it  is  all  in  vain  ;  the  conviction 
is  there,  deep  and  strong,  and  though  we  desire  to  remove 
it,  have  tried  to  have  it  removed,  it  only  becomes  deeper 
and  still  deeper,  that  evil,  most  ruinous  and  mischievous 
evil  is  intended.  We  have  tried  to  believe  that  it  was 
confined  to  a  narrow  limit,  that  but  few  were  infected,  and 
that  it  would  not  amount  to  much.  We  do  still  think, 
that  so  far  as  the  private  members  are  concerned,  it  is 
confined  to  but  few  ;  but  the  defection  among  public  men, 
among  schemers,  wire-workers  and  would-be- wire-work- 
ers, we  are  satisfied,  is  wide  enough  to  make  it  a  very 
serious  matter.  When  Mr.  Ferguson  lost  his  love  for  the 
principles  of  the  Gospel,  entered  upon  his  wild  and  idle 


358  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP 

speculations,  apostatized  and  fell,  we  were  surprised  to 
find  how  many  sympathizers  there  were  with  him,  and  how 
many  were  hanging  but  loosely  to  the  faith.  When  they 
saw  how  speedily  he  went  to  ruin,  they  retreated.  Till 
the  present  defection,  they  were  still,  and  all  was  quiet. 
But  an  opening  is  now  made,  a  new  phase  is  turning*  up, 
and  perversions  are  being  made,  ruinous  to  all  the  great 
work  we  have  done  or  are  now  doing.  We  are  satisfied 
an  effort  is  now  determined  upon  to  renounce,  insidiously 
repudiate,  and  covertly  sink  all  we  have  done  and  are  now 
doing.  We  have  some  men  among  us,  who  have  acciden- 
tally fallen  among  us,  without  ever  being  of  us,  ever  having 
the  work  we  are  engaged  in  at  heart,  or  having  any  S3^m- 
pathy  with  us  ;  who  have  a  deep  and  settled  opposition  to 
the  main  principles  developed,  advocated  and  maintained 
by  Alexander  Campbell.  These  are  restless  spirits, 
unhappy  souls,  never  hearty  in  anything  unless  it  be 
murmuring,  complaining,  opposing  and  pulling  down  what 
has  been  built  up  by  the  greatest  sacrifices,  incessant  labors 
and  determined  perseverance  of  other  men." 

The  next  issue  gives  the  following  account  of  the  course 
pursued  by  Mr.  Melish  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  on  Sixth 
street,  Cincinnati  : 

"  We  complain  not  that  a  man  should  preach  anything, 
not  excepting  Mormonism,  if  he  determines  thus  to  dis- 
pose of  himself;  but  then,  there  is  a  bold,  manly  and 
straight-forward  way  to  do  even  this.  Let  a  man  take 
his  own  proper  platform,  stand  upon  his  own  proper 
basis,  sail  under  his  own  proper  colors,  and  preach  his 
doctrine  in  its  own  proper  name,  and  not  impose  upon 
those  for  whom  he  has  no  affiliation,  and  with  whom  he 
has  no  fraternity.  Nothing  is  more  loathsome  than  to  be 
bored  with  the  miserable  drivellings  of  men  in  a  fellow- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  35 9 

ship  where  they  have  no  heart,  among  a  people  with  whom 
they  have  no  sympathy,  and  pretending  to  be  in  a  cause 
which  they  would  sink.  Nothing  is  more  disgusting  than 
to  sit  and  listen  to 'one  of  these  week  after  week,  while 
he  reads  nothing,  learns  nothing,  and  produces  nothing, 
except  some  stupid,  antiquated,  and  oft-exploded  notions 
familiar  with  all  the  sectarian  parties  in  this  country  thirty 
years  ago,  under  the  silly  conceit  that  he  is  *  going  on  to 
perfection,'  that  he  is  *  progressing,'  *  advancing  in  knowl- 
edge,' etc.,  etc.  Several  of  these  are  now  among  us,  and 
no  man  living  can  tell  what  they  believe,  or  what  they 
preach.  They  know  not  what  they  hold.  They  agree  in 
nothing,  that  we  are  aware  of,  unless  in  disliking  the  main 
principles  we  as  a  religious  body  have  maintained  and 
defended  for  many  years.  There  are  now  at  least  three 
factions  of  these,  one  in  Cincinnati,  one  in  Jacksonville, 
111.,  and  one  in  Ashland,  Ohio. 

"  So  far  as  those  in  our  city  are  concerned,  there  are 
not  more  than  three  or  four  to  whom  we  attach  much 
blame.  Some  three  or  four  of  them  have  acted  very 
badly,  and  have  done  the  cause  about  as  much  injury  as 
was  in  their  power.  The  two  principal  men  in  the  work 
commenced  their  inharmonious  work  several  years  ago. 
We  shall  not  attempt  a  description  of  all  their  little 
maneuverings,  twistings  and  turnings.  But  we  can  not 
let  them  pass  without  a  sketch  of  their  course.  They 
were  entrusted  with  the  management  of  building  a  meet- 
ing-house,  and  went  beyond  the  ability  of  the  church  in 
the  expense,  and  involved  the  church  in  a  debt  ot  some 
$6,000,  after  the  brethren  had  paid  what  they  felt  able  to 
pay.  They  then,  contrary  to  the  wish  of  most  of  the 
members,  pressed  instrumental  music  into  the  church. 
Many  other  little  devices  were  resorted  to,  disagreeable  to 


360  THE   LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

a  large  number  of  the  members,  among  whom  were  many 
of  the  old  and  more  substantial  of  the  body.  Meantime, 
one  of  their  number  wrote  an  article  signed,  '  A  Seeker 
after  Truth,'  which  appeared  in  the  Review  for  1857,  and 
was  accompanied  with,  some  pretty  stringent  strictures, 
editorial.  *  Seeker  after  Trnth '  probably  concluded 
that  he  would  find  more  truth  than  he  was  seeking  after, 
and  closed  with  article  number  one. 

"  Meantime,  this  same  *  Seeker  after  Truth,'  otherwise 
T.  J.  Melish,  commenced  preaching  the  Spirit,  praying 
for  the  Spirit,  and  opposing  the  preaching  of  *  first  prin- 
ciples ; '  yet,  almost  his  entire  discourses  related  to  first 
principles.  He  professed  to  have  experienced  a  great 
change  since  advancing  into  the  new  light,  and  put  up 
superior  claims  to  spiritual  illumination.  He  scarcely 
ever  spoke  without  speaking  of  the  superior  joys  since  his 
advancement  in  knowledge,  at  the  same  time  evincing 
repugnance  to  the  writings  of  Mr.  Campbell,  especially 
the  Christian  Baptist,  and  the  success  of  the  principal 
men  among  us.  The  new  doctrine  concerning  the  Spirit 
was  in  every  sermon  and  prayer.  After  we  had  delivered 
a  discourse  in  the  church  one  night,  he  prayed  very  fer- 
vently for  us  that  we  might  receive  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
explained  to  the  Lord  in  his  prayer,  that  *  except  we  are 
born  of  the  Spirit,  we  can  do  nothing.'  Elder  Geo.  Tait 
also  professed  a  great  advancement  in  knowledge,  very 
superior  enjoyment  and  extended  peace,  since  the  dawning 
of  the  new  light.  They  proceeded  so  far  as  to  cease  to 
call  upon  persons  to  participate  in  the  social  meeting, 
professing  each  one  to  speak,  sing,  or  pray,  as  moved  by 
the  Spirit.  Many  of  the  members  of  the  church,  seeing 
these  silly  and  empty  pretensions,  and  penetrating  through 
the  shameful  farce,  knowing  that,  lying  at  the  bottom  of 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  361 

it  all,  there  was  a  hatred  of  the  main  principles  that  dis- 
tinguished their  profession  from  everything  around  them, 
became  utterly  disgusted  and  would  only  attend  the 
meetings  for  celebrating  the  Savior's  death. 

"  Things  had  now  come  to  a  crisis.  The  church  was 
constantly  declining.  Two  distinct  parties  were  forming. 
Eld.  Henry  Hathaway  had  left  Covington  and  come  to  the 
aid  of  the  brethren,  to  try  and  save  the  church.  The  heavy 
debt  was  pressing  upon  it,  and  it  was  feared  it  would  have 
to  be  sold.  We  had  sold  our  church  property  on  Clinton 
street,  and  were  deliberating  on  occupying  the  property 
on  Freeman  street  donated  by  Mrs.  Judge  McLean  to  the 
Disciples.  We  were  generally  advised  by  brethren  in  the 
city,  and  many  out  of  it,  to  unite  with  the  brethren  on 
Sixth  street,  where  the  defection  was,  try  and  save  the 
church,  assist  in  paying  the  debt,  and  thus  save  the  cause 
from  shame.  This  advice  we  took,  and  the  main  part  of 
the  members  united  with  them,  since  which  arrangements 
have  been  made  to  meet  the  debt.  Before  we  united  with 
them,  we  had  a  mutual  understanding  that  we  would  try 
and  have  no  participation  in  the  doctrinal  difficulty  among 
them.  When  we  were  received,  Eld.  Melish  harangued 
us  on  the  new  doctrine,  and  subsequently  every  time  we 
heard  him  preach  or  pray.  We  paid  scarcely  any  atten- 
tion to  it,  and  never  replied  to  anything  said  by  him. 
Every  little  device  they  could  think  of,  was  employed  to 
annoy  those  who  differed  from  them. 

"  There  were  now  two  bishops  in  the  church,  Elder  H. 
Hathaway  and  T.  J.  Melish.  Meantime,  the  church,  with 
much  unanimity,  elected  Bro.  G.  W.  Rice  to  the  office  of 
bishop.  Some  two  or  three  of  the  defection  probably 
made  some  objection,  but  we  are  not  aware  that  any  voted 
against  him.     The  usual  restlessness  continued,  and  the 


362  THE  UFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

defection  generally  ceased  to  attend  meetings  unless  some 
one  supposed  to  be  favorable  to  the  party  was  expected 
to  speak.  Thus  things  continued  till  some  two  months 
ago,  when  a  written  petition  was  presented  to  the  church, 
with  thirty-nine  names  signed,  requesting  the  church  to 
grant  the  persons  whose  names  were  signed,  letters  of 
recommendation  and  dismission,  that  they  might  form 
another  congregation,  alleging  that  they  intended  to 
preach  the  same  doctrine  and  remain  in  the  same  faith  of 
the  church  they  were  leaving.  Explanation  was  made 
that  they  had  consulted  Bro.  Challen  in  reference  to  the 
step  they  were  taking,  and  that  he  had  advised  them  to 
do  it. 

"It  was  also  reported,  probably  in  private,  that  Brother 
Hopson,  who  was  then  in  the  city,  had  also  concurred 
with  them  and  advised  them  to  leave,  as  they  were  about 
to  do.  It  was  moved  and  carried  to  defer  action  upon 
their  request  a  few  days.  Before  the  time  for  action,  Bro. 
Challen  was  written  and  Bro.  Hopson  was  conferred  with, 
on  the  subject,  and  both  say  decidedly  that  they  never 
gave  any  such  advice.  The  church,  without  a  dissenting 
voice,  refused  to  grant  them  letters.  They  then  "went 
out  from  us  because  they  were  not  of  us,"  though  expos- 
tulated with  by  Elder  Walter  Scott  with  tears,  at  the 
time;  and  have  since,  we  are  informed,  been  meeting  in  a 
hall. 

"The  church  since  is  in  peace  and  harmony,  the  atten- 
dance larger  than  before  and  the  Sunday-school  fuller; 
and  we  hope  soon  to  have  an  evangelist  who  shall  devote 
his  energies  to  the  interests  of  the  congregation.  As  we 
occupy  a  prominent  place  there,  we  thought  it  due  to  the 
brethren  abroad  that  we  wake  this  much  of  a  statement 
find  explanation," 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  363 

Mr.  Carman's  history  in  connection  with  the  church 
at  Ashland,  Ohio,  is  very  fairly  given  by  himself,  in  a 
communication  published  in  the  Beview  for  January  17th, 
1860.  The  communication,  and  the  editorial  comment 
thereupon,  shows  that  the  "  defection'*  was  closely  con- 
nected with  other  matters  than  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  suggests  why  the  leaders  in  it  received  so 
much  sympathy  from  men  who  would  not  openly  espouse 
their  cause.     We  insert  both  entire  : 

"  The  undersigned,  late  pastor  of  the  church  of  'Dis- 
ciples,' in  Ashland,  having  felt  himself  constrained  to 
withdraw  from  his  pastorate,  and,  more  recently  from  the 
church  also,  seeking,  meantime,  and  obtaining,  the  opinion 
of  a  council  relative  to  certain  public  acts  and  teachings  of 
his,  which  had  been  called  in  question  by  a  portion  of  his 
congregation,  offers  this  brief  statement  in  explanation  of 
his  course  and  position. 

"The  ground  of  dissatisfaction  with  his  course  he  be- 
lieves to  have  been  two-fold,  and  that  it  may  be  fairly 
stated  thus : 

"  In  the  matter  of  church  policy,  he  having  been  regu- 
larly ordained  to  the  pastorate,  assumed  and  acted  on  the 
position  that  the  pastor  has  control  of  the  pulpit,  and 
that  his  relations  generally  to  other  officers  of  the  con- 
gregation are  such  as  recognized  in  no  other  denomina- 
tions holding  to  the  congregational  form  of  government. 
He  also  held  that  an  evangelist,  or  minister  without  a  lo- 
cal charge,  was  officially  amenable  to  the  denomination 
at  large,  as  represented  by  her  ministers,  instead  of  be- 
ing answerable  therefor  to  the  particular  church  where  he 
might  hold  membership. 

"  In  respect  to  doctrine  he  had  taught — 

"  1st.     Salvation  by  grace,  as  contradistinguished  from 


364  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

salvation  bylaw, — grace  being  the  sole  principle  of  the 
sinner's  acceptance  through  Christ. 

"  2d.  Faith,  the  only  conditionating  principle  in  the 
sinner's  acceptance  of  Christ. 

"  3d.  Baptism,  as  affecting  no  more  than  declarative 
justification  and  an  enrollment  in  the  visible  kingdom  of 
Christ. 

"  4th.  The  Holy  Spirit,  as  personally  and  directly  the 
agent  converting  and  sanctifying  men  through  the  Truth. 

"  5th.  The  utility  and  declarations  of  faith,  as  needful 
to  show  how  a  church  takes  the  Bible  as  its  only  rule  of 
faith  and  practice. 

"  6th.  The  need  of  greater  agreement  in  such  under- 
standing  of  the  Bible  for  church  than  for  Christian  fel- 
lowship. 

"7th.  Fraternal  recognition  of  all  evangelical  churches, 
as  parts  of  Christ's  visible  kingdom,  so  as  to  discounte- 
nance sectarianism  without  identifying  it  with  denomina- 
tionalism. 

"  Such  were  the  matters  of  difference  between  church 
and  pastor. 

"  These,  in  substance,  were  at  length  mutually  submit- 
ted to  a  Council  of  Ministers  and  Elders  from  abroad, 
both  parties  agreeing  to  abide  by  their  opinion. 

"  The  council  gave  their  verdict  to  the  effect  that  they 
found  the  late  pastor's  course  *  schismatical  in  its  ten- 
dency and  destructive  of  the  interests  of  the  cause  of 
Christ,'  and  his  teaching  *  tending  to  produce  dissension 
and  division  in  the  church  of  God ;'  and  that  they  could 
not  «  consistently  recognize  as  a  faithful  minister  of  the 
word  '  such  a  teacher. 

"  In  the  face  of  this  verdict,  however,  the  council  care- 
fully explained,  on  its  delivery,  that  it  was  ■  not  intended 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  365- 

to  have  the  effect  of  changing  said  ex-pastor's  church  rela- 
tionship!'' 

"Notwithstanding  this  strange  disclaimer,  the  undersign- 
ed  feels  no  disposition  to  remain  where  his  labors  in  the 
Gospel  are  not  approved,  nor  to  hold  a  membership  in 
any  church  by  mere  sufferance.  Much  less  could  he  de- 
sire intimate  relationship  with  those  having  so  little  zeal 
for  the  purity  of  the  sanctuary  as  to  be  willing  to  retain 
in  their  embrace  one  they  deem  so  schismatic  and  a  de- 
stroyer of  the  cause  of  Christ.  He  prefers  to  stand  or 
fall  with  those  principles  for  the  consistent  adherence  to 
which,  as  he  believes,  he  has  been  condemned. 

"  He  has  only  to  say,  therefore,  in  conclusion,  that  with 
no  church  acquiescing  in  the  council's  verdict,  has  he  any 
ecclesiastic  relations  ;  while  with  all,  whether  churches  or 
individuals,  who  practically  repudiate  that  verdict,  his 
relations  remain  unchanged. 

I.  N.  Carman." 
"  Ashland,  JSTov.  9,  1859." 

"  When  a  man  changes  his  position  and  gives  to  the  pub- 
lic an  explanation,  we  have  no  objection  to  assist  him  in 
handing  it  around.  Upon  the  above  we  have  the  follow- 
ing remarks  : 

"  1.  This  gentleman  appears  to  have  occupied  a  posi- 
tion unknown  to  the  New  Testament  before  his  late  sad 
disaster.  He  styles  himself  '  late  pastor  of  the  church 
of  "  Disciples,"  in  Ashland,  O.'  We  read  in  the  New 
Testament  of  the  '  church  of  Christ  ■  and  '  church  of 
God,'  but  never  of  any  «  church  of  "  Disciples, "  '  much 
less  'Pastor  of  the  church  of  "Disciples!"' — Had  he 
been  an  humble  follower  of  Jesus,  imbibing  the  snored 
speech  of  his  Master,  and  His   holy  Apostles,  and  labor- 


366  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

ing  to  maintain  it,  his  explanation  would  not  have  been 
needed. 

"  2.  In  respect  to  doctrine,  he  had  taught — 
'*  '  Salvation  by  grace  as  contradistinguished  from  salva- 
tion by  law, — grace  being  the  sole  principle  of  accept- 
ance through  Christ.'  Here  is  meanness  personified. 
The  insinuation  is  in  this  that  his  brethren  did  not  receive 
the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace,  but  by  law.  This  sly 
and  slippery  insinuation  and  misrepresentation  was  com- 
mon twenty-five  years  ago  from  about  third-rate  Metho- 
dist circuit  riders,  and  some  other  very  unenlightened 
and  weak  men  ;  but  now  it  has  become  the  doctrine  of  the 
*  late  pastor  of  the  church  of  "  Disciples,"  in  Ashland, 
Ohio  V  He  knows,  and  knew  when  he  wrote  this,  as 
well  as  he  knew  his  name,  that  every  man  among  us  had 
from  the  beginning  maintained  salvation  by  grace  and  not 
by  the  law.  But  they  did  not  have  the  artifice  of  leaving 
their  language  capable  of  double  meaning  or  different  in- 
terpretations. They  explained  that  Christ  and  all  that 
He  has  brought  to  man  is  of  grace — pure  and  unmerited 
favor — in  contradistinction  from  the  law  of  Moses ;  but 
those  modern  *  Disciples,'  not  of  Jesus,  but  of  Cousin, 
Kant  and  Hamilton,  and  especially  some  of  the  ■  late 
pastors  of  the  church  of  "  Disciples,"  '  mean  by  grace 
some  unintelligible  mystical  principle ;  and  by  law,  they 
mean  the  law  of  Christ,  for  adoption  ;  and  those  adopted 
according  to  this  law,  they  count  adopted  on  the  t  legal- 
istic principle.'  We  are  ashamed  of  their  silly  trifling 
with  the  clear  and  obvious  principles  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ. 

"3.  'Faith,  the  only  conditionating  principle  of  the 
sinner's  acceptance  with  Christ.'  The  first  item,  in  his 
list  of  doctrine,  is,  4  grace  being  the  sole  principle  of  the 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  367 

sinner's  acceptance  through  Christ,'  and,  in  the  second 
item,  *  faith,  is  the  only  conditionating  principle.'  Bole 
principle  means  the  only  principle. 

"  In  the  first  item,  then,  grace  is  the  only  principle,  and, 
in  the  second  item,  faith  is  the  only  principle  !  But  still, 
there  is  a  saving  clause  in  this.  Grace  is  the  sole  princi- 
ple, but  faith  the  only  conditionating  principle.  This  is 
very  slippery  theology.  The  Lord  puts  faith  and  bap- 
tism together,  and  thus  makes  one  as  much  a  *  condition- 
ating principle  '  as  the  other.  «  He  that  believeth  and 
is  baptized  shall  be  saved.'  Here  are  two  things  to  be 
done  for  the  same  purpose.  One  is  believing  and  the 
other  is  being  baptized.     The  object  is  salvation. 

"  4.  «  Baptism,  as  affecting  no  more  than  a  declarative 
justification  and  an  enrollment  in  the  visible  kingdom  of 
Christ.'  Where  is  all  this  learned?  Not  in  the  New 
Testament,  but  in  sectarianism.  The  New  Testament 
says  nothing  about  *  declarative  justification,'  nor*  en- 
rollment in  the  visible  church.'  Why  not  be  content 
with  the  language  of  Scripture?  Simply  for  the  reason 
that  no  schism  can  be  formed  in  that  way.  We  must 
have  some  new  and  foreign  terms  introduced  for  a  show 
of  knowledge  and  pretence  of  learning. 

"  5.  ■  The  Holy  Spirit,  as  personally  and  directly  the 
agent  converting  and  sanctifying  men  through  the  Truth.' 
Where  does  he  read  anything  about  the  Holy  Spirit  per- 
sonally and  directly  being  the  agent  in  sanctifying  men 
through  the  Truth?  Why  this  bringing  in  of  strange  and 
unscriptural  terms,  unless  to  create  contention?  Why 
not  be  content  with  the  prayer  of  Jesus?  '  Sanctify 
them  through  thy  truth  ;  thy  word  is  truth.'  There  is 
about  as  much  perversity  in  these  items  as  could  be  con-* 
cieused  into  the  same  number  of  words, 


368  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

"6.  '  The  utility  of  declarations  of  faith,  as  needful  to 
show  how  a  church  takes  the  Bible,  as  its  only  rule  of 
faith  and  practice.'  Is  not  this  sprightly  for  a  young 
man  educated  in  the  school  of  Christ?  How  many  ways 
are  there  of  taking  the  Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and 
practice?  There  are  but  two  ways  of  it.  One  is  to  take 
the  Bible  as  the  only  rule^  and  the  other  is  not  to  take  it. 
The  Bible  itself  declares  the  faith  of  the  'people  of  God. 
Those  who  have  another  faith,  or  no  faith,  need  declara- 
tions of  faith,  or  of  unbelief,  to  show  that  they  stand  no- 
where and  are  religiously  nothing.  This  is  our  quondam 
Bro.  Carman's  position. 

"7.  'The. need  of  greater  agreement  in  such  under- 
standing of  the  Bible  for  church  than  for  Christian  fel- 
lowship.' This  is  the  first  we  knew  of  the  difference 
between  church  and  Christian  fellowship.  In  the  new 
theology  there  is  a  difference  between  church  fellowship 
and  Christian  fellowship.  In  the  former  there  must  be  a 
greater  agreement  than  in  the  latter!  What  profound 
wonders  the  wisdom  of  our  young  theologians  is  bringing 
to  light !  We  older  men  are  entirely  in  the  shade,  laid 
upon  the  shelf  and  behind  the  time.  This  is  what  we 
have  lost  by  not  being  philosophers,  wise  men — knowing 
nothing  but  Christ  and  him  crucified  !  Here  we  have 
been  plodding  along,  with  nothing  but  the  Bible,  and  have 
never  discovered  the  difference  between  church  and  Chris- 
tian fellowship,  and  that  a  greater  agreement  is  necessary 
for  church  than  Christian  fellowship  !  This  is  as  wonder- 
ful as  the  discovery  of  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  "that 
men  are  justified  before  they  are  sanctified."  Some  of 
our  young  pastors  put  one  in  mind  of  the  j^oung  lady  who 
had  been  a  session  to  high-school  and  ascended  the  hill  of 
science  so  high  that  she  asked  her  good  mother,  when  she 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  369 

returned  home,  which  one  of  the  cows  gave  the  butter- 
milk ! 

"8.  *  Fraternal  recognition  of  all  evangelical  churches, 
as  part  of  Christ's  visible  kingdom,  so  as  to  discounte- 
nance sectarianism  without  identifying  it  with  denomina- 
tional ism.'  This  is  the  brightest  spot  of  all !  Here  we 
have  *  evangelical  churches,'  as  '  parts  of  Christ's  visi- 
ble kingdom.'  Pray  what  is  Christ's  kingdom?  We 
leave  out  the  'word  visible,  for  he  has  no  kingdom  in  this 
world  that  is  invisible.  Christ's  kingdom  is  Christ's 
church,  or  the  church  of  Christ.  The  individual  congre- 
gations, or  churches  of  Christ,  make  the  congregation  or 
church    of  Christ.       What     does     sectarianism     mean! 

•  Sect,'  is  heresy.  The  same  Greek  word  is  translated 
sect  and  heresy.  A  sectarian  is  a  heretic.  0.ur  wise 
brother  is  for  discountenancing  heresy,  by  styling  heresies 

*  evangelical  denominations/  and  recognizing  them  as 
parts  of  'Christ's  visible  kingdom. ?  In  this  way  he  does 
not  identify  sectarianism  with  denominationalism !  Is 
not  this  brilliant? 

"9.  Last,  though  not  least,  ■  he  assumed  and  acted  up- 
on the  position  that  the  pastor  has  control  over  the 
pulpit.'  Could  not  the  church  so  much  as  grant  this 
assumption?  Then  he  could  have  kept  every  man  out  of 
the  pulpit,  unless  he  agreed  with  the  pastor.  How  inter- 
esting to  belong  to  the  church  with  such  a  pastor !  He 
can  then  invite  sectarians  into  the  pulpit  and  keep  his  own 
brethren  out  of  it.  Some  pastors  are  much  better  in  con- 
trolling pulpits,  attending  parties,  engaging  in  hearty 
laughs  and  great  dinners,  than  in  taking  care  of  the 
church  of  God.  One  stationed  in  Peoria,  111.,  a  short 
time  since,  can  testify  to  the  truth  of  this.  The  Lord 
save  the  cause  from  these  lordlings." 
17 


370  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

Mr.  Franklin  led  off  in  the  exposure  of  this  movement, 
but  it  was  not  long  until  his  efforts  were  ably  seconded  by 
President  Campbell  and  Professors  W.  K.  Pendleton  and 
Charles  L.  Loos,  of  Bethany  College.  The  utterances 
from  Bethany  were  a  necessity,  from  the  fact  that  many 
were  inclined  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  trouble  to  one  of 
the  professors  of  the  College. 

Mr.  Russell  became  most  prominent  of  the  trio  men- 
tioned above,  and  also  departed  farther  from  the  views 
current  among  the  Disciples.  His  work  of  distraction 
began  in  Louisiana,  Missouri.  He  had  been  engaged  to 
preach  for  the  church  a  year.  In  the  middle  of  the  year 
the  church  proposed  to  pay  his  salary  for  the  full  }'ear,  if 
he  would  only  leave  them.  But  he  stubbornly  refused  to 
go  before  his  time  was  up.  From  this  place  he  went  to 
Jacksonville,  Illinois,  where  he  succeeded  in  dividing  the 
church  in  a  very  short  time,  but  carried  a  majority  of  the 
church  with  him  and  held  the  meeting  house.  On  Groins: 
there  he  was  made  principal  of  an  excellent  high-school, 
but  was  soon  announced  as  president  of  Berean  College, 
Jacksonville,  111.  This  added  something  to  the  report  of 
his  doings  abroad.  His  views  may  be  learned  from  what 
was  written  by  President  Campbell  and  Professor  Pendle- 
ton concerning  him,  in  the  Harbinger  for  January,  1860, 
and  which  we  will  presently  lay  before  the  reader.  Dr. 
W.  II.  Ilopson,  then  of  Louisiana,  Missouri,  in  a  letter 
to  the  editor  of  the  Review,  says  of  Mr.  Russell : 

"  I  asked  his  opinion  of  the  Campbell  and  Rice  debate 
on  the  subject  of  spiritual  influence.  He  said  that  *  Mr. 
Rice  was  in  the  main  correct  and  that  Mr.  Campbell  made 
a  magnificent  failure.  He  said  publicly  and  privately,  in 
the  pulpit  and  in  the  social  circle,  that,  '  the  Baptists 
were  sound  on  the  baptismal  question,  the   Presbyterians 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FllANKLIN.  371 

were  sound  on  justification  by  faith,  the  Methodists  were 
sound  on  prayer  and  personal  piety — that  allot*  them  were 
sound  on  spiritual  influence,  and  that  we  as  a  people  on 
all  these  subjects  were  fifty  years  behind  the  times—  that 
the  so-called  Reformation  brought  out  nothing  for  which 
the  world  was  at  all  indebted  to  it,  but  the  confession  as 
the  bond  af  union— that  Jesus  was  the  Christ — and  per- 
haps the  more  frequent  observance  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per.' " 

Prof.  Pendleton,  after  citing  the  facts  of  the  case, 
added : 

"In  the  light  of  these  facts,  no  one  can  fail  to  justify 
the  action  of  their  respective  congregations  towards  W. 
S.  Russell,  of  Jacksonville,  111.,  and  his  party,  and  I.  N. 
Carman,  of  Ashland,  Ohio.  The  proceedings  in  the  case 
of  the  latter,  we  lay  before  our  readers  in  this  number  of 
the  Harbinger,  The  course  of  Mr.  Russell  is  already 
generally  understood.  Both  of  these  young  men,  for 
whom  we  have  felt  great  respect,  and,  indeed,  personal 
attachment,  seem  to  be  infatuated  with  the  conceit,  that 
Providence  is,  just  now,  intending  a  reformation  in  the 
opinions  of  our  brethren,  as  to  the  theory  of  spiritual 
operation,  and  that  they  have  been  raised  up  to  inaugu- 
rate it.  I  do  not  write  this  sentence  in  irony,  but  in 
sober  conviction.  They  have  manifestly  studied  to  dis- 
cover, and  labored  to  disseminate  subtle  and  controver- 
sial differences,  with  the  resolute  and  undisguised  purpose 
of  pushing  their  speculations  to  the  point  of  ecclesiastical 
division  and  organization.  They  have  resisted  the  ear- 
nest and  private  entreaties  of  their  best  friends  ;  thrown 
themselves  into  personal  opposition  to  old  and  experi- 
enced ministers  ;  repelled  the  exhortations  and  reproofs 
of  the  wisest  and  best  of   their    brethren ;  looked  with 


372  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP 

heartless  indifference  upon  the  strife  and  alienation  which 
they  have  provoked  ;  seen  the  power  of  the  gospel  para- 
lyzed by  their  contentions  about  doctrine  ;  Christ  and  his 
doctrine  trampled  under  foot  id  strife  about  the  Spirit ;  the 
influence  and  the  peace  of  several  churches  destroyed ; 
and  their  Master's  cause,  in  many  places,  evil  spoken  of; 
and  yet,  intent  upon  their  work,  they  persist  in  their 
course,  and  will  not  be  advised.  If  they  cannot  concede 
that  they  are  in  error,  they  surely  cannot  but  perceive 
that  they  are  the  occasion  of  a  great  injury  to  the  cause 
of  Him  whom  they  profess  to  serve.  The  mischief  is  be- 
fore them,  around  them,  knocking  at  the  doors  of  their 
conscience,  appealing  to  their  Christian  charity,  and  yet 
they  are  both  blind  and  deaf  to  it  all.  What  can  they 
expect?  What  do  they  desire?  If  it  be  to  become  lead- 
ers, heads  of  a  party,  let  them  remember  that  Christ  is 
our  leader  and  our  head,  and  go  out  from  among  us.  The 
material  of  their  organization  cannot  be  found  among  the 
true  followers  of  Christ. 

"We  sincerely  regret  the  issue  to  which  this  philosophi- 
cal speculation  has  come.  For  a  long  time,  we  hoped 
that  better  counsels  would  prevail,  but  that  hope  is  gone. 
Pride  of  opinion  has  ripened  into  bitterness  of  opposition  ; 
the  arrogance  of  philosophy  has  triumphed  over  the  for- 
bearance of  love,  and  nothing  is  left  but  that  the  friends 
of  peace  withdraw  from  such,  and  have  no  fellowship  with 
this  work  of  the  flesh.  We  leave  them  to  the  world,  and 
whatever  of  notoriety  or  of  glory  it  may  award  them. 
For  the  few,  who  may  be  innocently  entangled  in  these 
speculations,  we  hold  in  reserve  a  further  consideration  of 
them,  upon  their  merits  as  a  philosophy. " 

From  President  Campbell's  remarks  we  make  the  fol- 
lowing extract : 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  373 

"  But  while  the  remedial  system  continues  extant — 
and  that  must  be  till  the  Lord  returns  —no  change  of  dis- 
pensation or  administration  is  promised  ;  and,  therefore, 
none  is  conceivable.  Bro.  Em ssell's^day-d reams  of  a  new 
age  of  miracles,  which  lam  informed  he  preaches,  is  a 
pleasing  dream  to  a  sickly  and  desponding  heart ;  but  it  is 
a  dream  and  no  more  ;  and  such  is  his  newly  vamped  and 
dressed  speculation  on  spiritual  impact  or  contact  in 
order  to  a  new  heart,  a  new  spirit,  and  a  new  life. 

"  His  recent  readings  have  been  unfortunate.  His  plea 
for  miracles  is  rather  an  alarming  symptom ;  still,  it  is 
borrowed  from  Rome,  and,  therefore,  there  is  some  hope 
that  he  may  restore  it  to  the  real  owner.  His  German 
readings  have  not  been  fortunate.  The  facts,  precepts 
and  promises  of  the  Divine  Teacher,  without  any  such 
empty,  imaginative  and  deceitful  philosophy,  constitute 
the  marrow  and  fatness  of  the  word  of  life,  and  are  all- 
sufficient  to  make  the  man  of  God  perfect,  thoroughly 
furnished  for  every  good  word  and  work. 

"  We  know  no  man  *  after  the  flesh,'  and  still  less 
those  *  who  give  heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines 
concerning  demons ' — and  who  assume  that  if  we  had 
more  faith  we  could  work  miracles  and  cast  out  demons, 
as  did  the  Apostles  to  maintain  their  commission.  When 
any  one  allows  his  idealities  to  riot  in  such  excesses  and 
extravagances,  it  is  our  painful  and  sorrowful  duty  to  re- 
monstrate as  publicly  as  the  brother  or  alien  who  gives 
out,  prints  and  publishes  such  visions  and   imaginations. 

"  His  positions,  expressed  in  his  own  words,  are  these  : — 

"  '  We  can  not  have  one  theory  of  spiritual  influence  for 
the  Christian  and  another  for  the  Sinner.  If  the  Spirit 
operates  through  the  word  in  conversion,  it  must  operate 
in  the  same  way  in  the  sanctification  of  the  Christian  ;  and 


374  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

then  how  unmeaning  do  the  strong  expressions  of  the  New 
Testament  become  which  speak  of  the  Spirit  dwelling  in 
man  and  making  man  his  temple  and  habitation  ! '  Again 
he  adds,  *  He  always  works  internally,  and  that  is  never 
called  the  Spirit's  influence  which  is  exerted  merely 
through  secondary  agencies.'  These  are  his  own  definit- 
ive words.  They  are  perspicuous,  definite  and  precise, 
and  quite  intelligible.  It  is,  then,  strongly  affirmed  as 
a  fact,  true  and  veritable,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  alike  posi- 
tively enters  into  the  heart  of  saint  and  sinner,  and,  by 
actual  impact,  or  by  positive  impression,  operates  im- 
mediately, ivithout  any  instrumentality ,  or  means,  upon 
the  naked  spirit  of  man  ;  just  as  the  potter's  hand  manipu- 
lates or  moulds  a  vessel  out  of  the  dead  cold  clay ! 

*'  Again,  he  affirms  '  that  that  is  never  called  the 
Spirit's  influence  which  is  exerted  merely  through  second- 
ary agencies.'  This  'merely'  is,  in  his  style,  out  of 
place.  When  Jesus  says : — 'Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth,  thy  word  is  the  truth,'  (John  xvii.  17),  he  ought 
not,  according  to  this  theory,  to  have  added,  'through 
thy  truth,'  for  that  indicates  an  indispensable  instrumen- 
tality. He  certainly  presumes  not  to  say  that  'through 
the  truth'  does  not  indicate  any  instrumentality?  And 
if  he  admits  that  sanctification  is  consummated  without 
the  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  truth,  then  the  Saviour's 
views  and  his  views  are  in  direct  and  positive  antagon- 
ism. It  would  require  more  than  any  miracle  reported 
in  the  New  Testament  to  reconcile  his  theory  with  the 
teachings  of  our  Saviour  on  the  premises. 

"  The  conclusion  of  this  intercessory  prayer  makes  '  the 
declaration  of  the  Father's  name  '  or  character,  indis- 
pensable to  the  enjoyment  of  the  love  of  God  on  the  part 
of  saint  or  sinner.      It  is  in  these  words :  «  I  have  de- 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  375 

clared  to  them  thy  name  and  will  declare  it,'  in  order  to 
— or,  «  that  the  love  wherewith  thou  hast  loved  me,  may 
be  in  them,  and  I  in  them.'  John  xvii.  26.  Without 
faith  in  such  a  declaration  of  love  could  we  by  any  possi- 
bility enjoy  it? 

"  '  We  can  not  have  one  theory  of  spiritual  influence 
for  the  Christian  and  another  for  the  sinner.'  Hence,  we 
affirm  that  the  Spirit  works  through  or  by  the  gospel  upon 
saint  and  sinner,  and  upon  neither  but  through  or  by  the 
word,  preached  and  believed. 

As  Prof.  Loos  makes  mention  of  what  was  said  in  the 
Baptist  periodicals  concerning  the  course  of  Mr.  Russell, 
we  shall  precede  his  communication  Avith  quotations  frorq 
two  of  those  periodicals.  They  believed,  or  at  least  they 
affected  to  believe,  that  the  defection  was  quite  extended, 
and  that  the  parties  concerned  in  it  were  essentially  upon 
Baptist  grounds.  It  is  probable  that  the  liberal  and  com- 
plimentary notice  of  Mr.  Russell  by  Baptist  editors  flattered 
his  vanity  and  emboldened  him  in  measures  where  he 
would  otherwise  have  hesitated. 

The  Western  Watchman,  a  Baptist  weekly  published  in 
St.  Louis,  said  : 

"  Some  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  ranks  of  'the  Refor- 
mation,' are  abandoning  Mr.  Campbell's  doctrine  of  '  bap- 
tism for  the  remission  of  sins,'  and  preaching  the 
necessity  of  a  direct  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
the  heart  in  regeneration.  Several  of  the  ablest  men, 
among  whom  Rev.  Mr.  Loos  and  Rev.  Mr.  Murphy,  both 
presidents  of  western  colleges,*  agree,  substantially, 
with  President  Russell,  whose  sermon  on  the  necessity  of 


*Prof.  Loos  was.  for  a  short  time,  president  of  Eureka  College,  in  Illinois, 
hut  was  more  widely  known  as  one  of  the  Bethany  Faculty.  Mr.  Murphy 
was  president  of  Abingdon  College,  at  Abingdon.  Illinois. 


376  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  we  noticed  some  months 
ago,  are  engaged  in  a  movement  which  promises  much 
good.  They  are  young  and  able  men,  and  their  dissatis- 
faction with  the  Bethany  theology  is  shared  extensively 
by  their  people.  We  rejoice  to  see  that  the  truth  is  mak- 
ing conquests,  and  overthrowing  the  barriers  that  sophists 
have  thrown  up  to  impede  its  progress.  Mr.  Campbell 
may  yet  live  to  seethe  loose,  disjointed  fabric  that  he 
has  erected,  fall  to  pieces." 

The  following  communication  from  H.  J.  Eddy,  a  Bap- 
tist minister  of  Bloomington,  Illinois,  was  published  in 
the  Christian  Times,  a  Baptist  weekly  of  Chicago  : 

"  That  denomination  sometimes  called  Campbellites, 
Reformers,  Disciples,  etc.,  but  who  prefer  to  be  called 
Christians,  have  been  discussing  the  main  points  wherein 
we  have  differed  from  them ;  one  party  advocating 
the  views  commonly  called  evangelical.  Rev.  Mr.  Rus- 
sell of  Jacksonville,  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the 
West,  is  the  leader  in  this  reformation  of  the  Reformers. 
He  is  sustained  by  Rev.  Mr.  Loos  and  Rev.  Mr.  Murphy, 
both  of  whom,  like  iVlr.  Russell,  are  presidents  of  West- 
ern colleges,  and  able  men.  A  large  number  of  the  best 
educated  and  most  able  pastors  are  with  them ;  and  many 
of  their  leading  churches  have  adopted  their  views.  They 
have  abandoned  the  old  idea  of  'baptism  for  the  remission 
of  sins/  and  teach  the  direct  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  the  heart  in  regeneration  ;  and  dependence  upon  the 
Holy  Spirit  for  success  in  building  up  the  cause  of  Christ. 
They  do  not  hold  to  baptismal  regeneration.  They  hold 
to  our  views  of  communion,  only  they  administer  the 
Lord's  supper  every  Lord's  day,  which  many  Baptist 
churches  do  as  well.  There  is,  evidently,  in  this  move- 
ment, a  great  approximation  to,  if  not  a  full  reception  of, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  377 

the  main  features  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  We  were 
prepared  for  this,  by  listening  to  a  sermon,  delivered  in 
Bloomington  more  than  two  years  :igo,  before  the  annual 
meeting  of  that  body,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Russell,  who,  with 
great  power,  advocated  these  doctrines  from  the  text, 
*  Tarry  ye  in  Jerusalem  till  ye  be  endued  with  power 
from  on  high.'  He  fearlessly  charged  upon  his  own  de- 
nomination the  prevalent  errors  in  regard  to  the  person- 
ality and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  cause  of  their 
weakness  and  want  of  greater  success.  We  were  aston- 
ished and  delighted  with  such  a  sermon  from  such  a 
source. 

"At  the  risk  of  being  charged  by  some  Baptist  Jehu, 
who  drives  a  paper  in  Tennessee,  [J.  R.  Graves  of  the 
Tennessee  Baptist,  who  was  always  "  exceeding  mad  " 
against  the  Disciples. — J.  F.]  and  calls  on  the  world  to 
see  his  zeal  for  the  Baptists,  with  the  enormous  crime  of 
'affiliating  with  the  Campbe'lites,'  we  shall  express  our 
great  joy  at  the  movement  in  question,  and  our  cordial 
sympathy  for  the  noble  men  who  are  struggling  to  bring 
about  this  reform.  One  of  these  men  informed  the  writer 
that  their  views  are  ■  indentical  with  those  of  the  Baptists 
in  all  respects.' 

"  These  reformatory  views  meet  with  much  opposition, 
and  it  was  rumored  in  Jacksonville,  when  our  General  As- 
sociation was  in  progress  there,  that  Rev.  Mr.  Russell 
would  probably  be  removed  from  the  college  by  those 
who  opposed  his  views.  Mr.  Russell  is  quite  young,  but 
there  are  few  men  West  or  East,  superior  to  him  ;  and  no 
man  in  that  denomination,  unless  it  be  Alexander  Camp- 
bell himself.  We  shall  pray  for  the  success  of  these  breth- 
ren, and  '  affiliate  '  with  them." 

It  will    be  seen,  as  stated  in  the  communication  from 


378  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

Prof.  Loos  below,  that  the  paragraph  in  the  Western 
Watchman  was  condensed  from  this  communication  by 
Mr.  Eddy.  The  residence  of  this  gentleman  at  Blooming- 
ton,  so  near  the  center  of  the  Russell  defection,  may  ex- 
plain why  it  seemed  to  him  that  so  large  a  proportion  of 
the    Disciples    were  on   the    move    toward   the  Baptists. 

Prof.  Loos'   communication    is    headed,  "A  Correction 
— «  Reformers  Reforming,'  "  and  is  as  follows  : 

"Bro.  Franklin  : — The  Review  of  the  24th  inst.  has 
just  reached  me,  and  in  it  I  notice  the  article  from  the 
Western  Watchman,  of  St.  Louis,  entitled  '  Reformers 
Reforming,'  in  which  my  name  is  announced,  together 
with  that  of  Bro.  P.  H.  Murphy,  of  Illinois,  as  'substan- 
tially agreeing  with  Prest.  Russell  of  Jacksonville,'  etc. 
I  thank  you  for.the  notice  you  have  taken  of  this  matter, 
and  especially  for  the  suggestion,  at  the  conclusion  of 
your  remarks,  for  Bro.  Murphy  and  myself  to  set  this 
matter  right  before  the  public.  I  agree  with  you  in  this, 
as  due  to  myself,  the  brethren,  and  others  beyond  us  who 
are  misled  by  this  statement.  I  have  already  noticed  this 
report  in  the  Harbinger,  (for  February)  and  elsewhere ; 
but  as  the  Review  circulates  more  widely  than  any  of  our 
other  papers  in  the  quarter  where  this  story  was  first  and 
most  extensively  spread,  I  will,  with  your  permission,  at- 
tend to  this  matter  in  your  columns  also. 

"The  article  you  published  from  the  Watchman  is  but  an 
abstract  of  a  letter  written  by  a  Mr.  Eddy,  a  Baptist 
preacher,  of  Bloomington,  111.,  to  the  Baptist  paper  of 
Chicago,  in  which  letter  all  these  statements  that  appear 
in  the  Watchman  are  announced  in  the  most  exasperated 
and  jubilant  style.  All  over  the  Union  the  Baptist  papers 
have  with  the  greatest  eagerness,  in  full  chorus,  caught  up 
these  jubilant  uotes  of  Mr.  Eddy ;  and  from  the  East  and 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  379 

the  West,  the  North  and  the  South,  have  letters  poured 
in  upon  me  upon  this  subject,  from  brethren  who  knew 
my  views  .about  this  Jacksonville  heresy,  and  were  there- 
fore surprised  to  see  such  a  statement  circulating  in  the 
public  papers.  Leaving  God  to  judge  and  punish  the 
iniquity  of  the  men  who  are  the  authors  of  this  falsehood, 
I  have  contented  myself  with  simply  setting  this  matter 
right  before  the  public.  In  a  few  words,  then,  I  will  at- 
tend to  the  items  of  Mr.  Eddy's  letter. 

"1.  Mr.  Eddy  states,  'They  have  abandoned  the  old  idea 
of  "baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins,"  and  teach  the 
direct  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heart  in  re- 
generation,' etc.  This  is  announced  as  the  chief  «dorv  of 
this  Jacksonville  'Reform,'  and  with  this  'Rev.  Mr.  Loos 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Murphy'  are  said  to  agree.  A  more  ex- 
treme falsehood  could  scarcely  be  invented.  'Baptism 
for  the  remission  of  sins' — with  its  antecedents,  as 
our  brethren  teach  it — has  been  an  unshaken  conviction 
with  me  ever  since  I  had  any  mature  religious  faith  to  the 
present  moment ;  and  will  remain  so  as  long  as  I  believe 
the  word  of  God.  To  me  the  words  of  Jesus,  'He  that 
believes  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,'  the  words  of 
Peter,  'Repent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins,'  are  of  no 
doubtful  signification.  They  stand  before  me  as  the  voice 
of  the  Eternal  by  his  Spirit,  to  be  accepted  by  us  in  their 
plain,  obvious,  direct  meaning,  as  they  were  accepted  by 
the  Christians  of  the  apostolic  age.  A  false  human  the- 
ology, a  vain,  arrogant,  supercillious  contempt  of  the  old, 
may  seek  to  despise,  and  may  make  war  upon  this  ancient 
Bible  truth  ;  but  in  spite  of  all  the  contempt  of  these  con- 
ceited theologies  and  sectarianisms,  it  will  stand  in  its 
primitive  strength  while  the  Bible  endures.     And  let  us 


380      •       THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

give  no  encouragement  to  any  attempts  to  fritter  down  the 
meaning  and  force  of  this  divine  word — "for  the  remission 
of  sins" — until  there  is  nothing  left  in  it  to  believe  and 
value.  Such  attempts  will  ever  be  made  by  the  uneasy 
pruriency  of  unsteady  souls.  Let  it  stand  and  be  accepted 
by  us  in  its  obvious,  full  strength  ;  and  as  such  let  us  do 
good  battle  for  it,  as  for  a  positive  truth,  and  God  will 
give  us  the  victory. 

"  2.  As  to  this  doctrine  of  •  the  direct  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  conversion  ' — a  notion  and  a  phraseology 
so  common  in  these  apostate  days — I  have  always  re- 
garded it,  ever  since  I  have  thought  upon  the  subject,  as 
without  the  slightest  foundation  in  the  word  of  God.  I 
look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  most  cardinal  errors  of  the 
chaotic  sectarian  theology.  I  need  not  pause  here  and  de- 
fine this  expression,  'direct  influence,'  etc.  Everybody 
knows  what  it  means.  I  do  not  regard  this  as  a  matter  of 
little  consequence.  It  is  an  error  laden  with  mischief,  a 
prolific  fountain  of  errors,  leading  men  to  neglect  the  at- 
tention and  homage  due  to  the  word  of  God.  I  regard 
the  disentangling  of  the  Bible  doctrine  on  this  special 
subject  by  this  Reformation  as  one  of  its  most  blessed  re- 
sults. On  no  one  point  is  the  public  mind  more  benighted. 
And  the  end  of  the  controversy  on  this  subject  has  not 
yet  come,  and  I  presume  will  not  while  the  world  stands. 
See  with  what  tenacity  the  sectarian  world  holds  on  to  this 
error !  The  power  of  the  word  of  God  in  its  positive 
demands  can  never  be  successfully  brought  to  bear  on  men, 
till  they  are  emancipated  from  this  error. 

"Such  are  my  views  on  these  two  cardinal  items  of  this 
'  Reform  among  Reformers/  attempted  by  some,  and 
trumpeted  over  the  land  by  the  Baptists.  No  man  living 
or  dead  has  ever  heard  ine  utter  any  sentiments  contrary 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  381 

to  what  I  have  here  said.  My  faith,  as  all  who  know  me 
can  testify,  I  fearlessly  assert  anywhere.  Any  man, 
therefore,  that  has  origi Dated  the  statement  in  the  letter 
of  Mr.  Eddy,  as  far  as  my  name  is  concerned,  has  simply 
originated  a  most  unqualified  falsehood. 

"  3.  The  statement  of  my  *  substantial  agreement  with 
Mr.  Russell,'  and  of  my  marching  under  him  'as 
leader'  back  to  the  Baptists,  as  this  precious  letter  in- 
forms us,  is  simply  ridiculous,  to  give  it  no  worse  name. 
This  gentleman's  course,  ever  since  he  began  to  develop 
it,  I  have  regarded  as  wrong  and  mischievous  in  doctrine 
and  conduct.  I  have  ever  so  declared  myself  by  word 
when  present,  and  by  a  large  correspondence  since  absent, 
to  the  brethren  of  Illinois,  as  well  as  to  others.  I  have 
never  had  any  controversy  with  President  Russell,  and 
never  sought  any ;  and  have  nothing  to  say  now  of  his 
motives.  I  once  had  hopes  in  him  ;  but  these  have  long 
since  fled.  His  course  is  so  far  away  from  what  we  regard 
as  right,  that  any  further  fraternal  relations  and  co-opera- 
tion with  him  and  those  with  him  are  entirely  out  of  the 
question.  My  objections  to  him  and  his  are  not  only  that 
they  have  entered  into  mystic  speculations,  leaving  the 
plain  paths  of  the  word  of  God.  This  departure  is 
itself  a  sin.  But  his  actual  teachings  are,  in  my  eyes, 
most  false  and  fraught  with  evil.  They  cannot  and 
ought  not  to  find  any  acceptance  among  us. 

"  4.  The  Bnptist  papers  give  this  *  reformatory  move- 
ment '  a  very  wide  extent  *  over  the  West  and  elsewhere.' 
This  is  all  a  dream  of  the  imagination.  '  Many  of  the 
greatest  and  best  men  of  the  Campbellite  body  '  we  are 
told,  are  in  this  grand  march  to  the  Baptist  camp.  What 
diseased  head  could  have  conjured  up  such  a  vision,  is  be- 
yond my  conception.      Narrow,  exceedingly  narrow,  is 


382  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

this  whole  (  movement,'  and  on  the  morning  when  the 
Baptist  people  will  be  drawn  up  with  high  expectations 
and  straining,  eager  eyes,  to  welcome  this  great  army  of 
repentant,  returning  prodigals,  coming  home  under  the 
guidance  of  *  Presidents  of  colleges/  as  subalterns, 
great  will  be  the  dismay  and  disappointment  of  these 
Waiting  people  to  see,  as  we  trust  they  soon  will  see,  a 
few  solitary  wanderers  enter  the  Baptist  fold — rari  nantes 
in  gurgite  vasto  (pardon  the  iLatin). 

"  5.  An  attempt  has  been  made  by  these  factionists  to 
name  as  many  names  as  possible  on  their  side,  to  give 
character  to  their  efforts.  We  have,  everywhere,  many 
excellent  men  who  are  laboring  earnestly  for  the  eleva- 
tion and  progress  of  the  churches,  in  all  the  excellencies 
of  a  Christian,  spiritual  life.  These  men,  though  heart 
and  soul  opposed  to  these  factious  efforts,  have*  by  these 
errant  men  been  secretly  reported  as  in  favor  of  this 
pseud o  reform.  Bad  men,  too,  have  for  their  own  ini- 
quitious  purposes  reported  these  falsehoods.  How  wrong 
and  unrighteous  this  is,  every  man  of  conscience  will 
judge. 

"  Let  these  *  reformers  '  know,  moreover,  that  while 
we  all  rejoice  to  see  any  true  man  earnestly  laboring, 
within  what  we  believe  to  be  Bible  limits,  to  "  teach,  re- 
prove and  correct;"  as  soon  as  any  man  seeks  to  over- 
leap these  bounds,  to  turn  against  what  we  believe  to  be 
right,  he  will  meet  us  all  as  a  solid  front  against  him. 

"  6.  There  is  another  point  here.  As  long  as  a  good 
man  is  heart  and  soul  with  us,  loves,  esteems  and  honors 
us,  before  friends  and  foes,  we  will  all  rejoice  to  listen  to 
him,  in  his  words  of  counsel  and  advice,  of  encourage- 
ment and  reproof.  But  when  men,  ostensibly  pretend- 
ing to  be  of- us —  of  our  teachings,  our  purposes,  our  la- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  383 

bors — and  this,  too,  into  the  eager  ears  of  our  worst  foes 
— thus  degrading  before  others  those  whom  they  pretend 
to  call  brethren,  and  entertaining  themselves  with  our 
enemies  at  our  expense — then,  as  men  unworthy  of  our 
fnrther  confidence,  we  denounce  and  reject  them.  If  any 
man  does  not  esteem  us  and  love  us,  let  him  go  where  his 
affections  lead  him. 

7.  Do  these  "reforming"  gentlemen  imagine  that 
they  have  the  power  to  rob  us  of  those  great  results  and 
grand  convictions  that  by  a  noble  and  lofty  struggle  of 
years  we  have,  by  God's  grace,  secured? — Do  they  ever 
dream  in  their  vanity  that,  while  the  great  progress  of  the 
evangelical  world  is  to  freedom  from  all  human  creeds, 
that  they  can  really,  all  of  a  sudden,  by  a  special  illumi- 
nation, convince  us  of  the  indispensable  necessity  of  one? 
Really,  to  do  this  they  will  have  to  make  a  different  effort, 
appear  with  more  masterly  weapons  of  logical  power, 
than  any  we  have  seen  in  their  hands.  This  idle  pretense 
at  big  words,  unusual  and  very  awkward  forms  of  speech 
and  logic — this  shallow,  puerile  attempt  at  theological 
metaphysics — give  poor  promise  of  any  such  thing  being 
accomplished  on  their  part.  We  feel  not  the  slightest 
misgiving  as  yet  from  the  force  of  their  logic. 

"  But,  enough.  I  have  said  more  than  I  had  intended  to 
say.  The  scandal  and  offence,  however,  occasioned  to  our 
brethren  over  the  whole  land,  by  the  report  which  called 
forth  this  article,  chargeable  no  doubt  to  these  defection- 
ists,  called  for  a  full  exposure  of  its  utter  falseness.  I 
have  done  what  I  conceived  my  duty  in  saying  what  I  have 
said  in  this  article. 

"Chas.  Louis  Loos." 

«  Bethany  College,  Jan.  27,  I860." 


384  THE   LIFE   AND  TIMES   OF 

President  Murphy,  when  be  saw  his  name  used  in  this 
connection,  came  promptly  forward  with  a  disclaimer. 
His  communication,  published  in  the  Review,  although  it 
manifested  something  of  what  Mr.  Franklin  called  "the 
sjmiptoms  of  defection,"  denied  that  he  was  a  supporter 
of  Mr.  Russell.     He  said  : 

"It  is  useless  to  state  that  the  statements  relative  to 
Prof.  Loos  and  myself  being  the  supporters  of  President 
Russell  are  incorrect,  as  also  tbe  others  relative  to  our 
leading  men  and  churches,  etc.  The  brethren  will  at  once 
see  their  incorrectness.  But  from  the  fact  that  it  seems 
to  be  the  settled  policy  of  those  brethren  associated  with 
President  Russell,  to  claim  every  man  as  affiliating  with 
them,  whose  influence  would  assist  them,  and  who  has  not 
publicly  expressed  himself  to  the  contrary,  especially  if  he 
believes  in  a  high-toned  spirituality  in  the  churches,  and 
does  not  continually  harp  on  the  first  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity, but  together  with  these  presents  to  the  brethren 
their  duty  as  Christians,  unfolding  the  whole  great 
Christian  system  in  its  bearings  on  saint  and  sinner ;  and 
since,  for  reasons  not  now  necessary  to  mention,  I  have 
not  written  for  the  periodicals  for  a  year  or  two,  leaving 
my  name  to  be  freely  used,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  some 
brethren,  and  causing  the  writing  of  many  letters  and 
many  oral  denials,  I  have  concluded  to  present  a  few 
thoughts  in  your  widely  circulated  paper,  that  the  brethren 
may  know  where  I  stand  relative  to  the  metaphysical 
teachings  of  a  few  of  our  brethren.  I  have  carefully  rend, 
I  presume,  most  of  what  President  Russell  has  written  for 
our  periodicals,  and  have  heard  him  preach  often,  and  I 
can  truly  say  that  much  of  his  teaching  is  good ;  this  he 
has  in  common  with  our  brethren  generally.  In  many 
things  I  regard  him  as  far  in  advance  of  our  sectarian 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  385 

neighbors,  but  in  others  I  regard  him  as  far  behind  them. 
Those  things  which  constitute  his  peculiarities  I  regard  as 
erroneous  and  injurious.  They  have  become  a  kind  of 
hobby  with  him,  seem  to  control  his  thoughts  and  give  the 
caste  to  every  sermon  and  article.  Men  generally  run  into 
error  when  they  unduly  concentrate  their  minds  on  any 
one  theme.  But  it  is  especially  unfortunate  when  any  one 
settles  on  a  metaphysical  speculation  as  the  controller  of 
his  thoughts,  either  in  nature  or  in  Christianity.  Better 
in  nature  select  the  whole  vast  universe,  varied,  sublime, 
divine,  as  the  theme  for  contemplation.  The  mere  Bota- 
nist is  unsafe  as  a  Naturalist,  as  also  the  man  who  devotes 
all  his  study  to  Geology.  As  a  Botanist  or  Geologist  he 
will  be  more  profound,  but  as  a  general  writer  he  will  too 
highly  extol  that  which  he  has  more  thoroughly  learned. 
Hence  the  many  men  of  one  idea  in  science.  The  spiritual 
empire  is  a  great  comprehensive  whole,  perfect  in  all  its 
parts.  Here  we  find  the  most  sublime  agencies  in  the 
catalogue  of  thought ;  the  most  powerful  principles  ever 
announced  to  man;  the  most  thrilling  facts  recorded  in 
history  ;  the  only  code  of  laws  which  are  intrinsically,  im- 
mutably and  eternally  right ;  and  promises  sublime  enough 
to  permeate  and  satiate  the  most  exalted  spirit ;  still,  it  is 
unsafe  to  settle  on  any  one  of  these  exclusively.  Take  the 
agencies  and  enter  into  metaphysical  speculation  for  a  length 
of  time,  and  any  one  is  drawn  into  Trinitarian  or  Unitarian 
mystery,  and  almost  necessarily  becomes  one-sided.  So  of 
these  principles.  Even  a  continual  contemplation  of  any  of 
these,  aside  from  the  others,  is  injurious  ;  and  he  who 
would  make  any  of  them  the  centre  of  his  system  or 
thoughts,  loses  the  great  centre  and  balance  wheel  of 
Christianity,  forms  a  code  of  doctrine,  adopts  a  philosophy 
or  some  darling  theory,  and  rallies  his  forces  there,  and 
makes  it  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  Christianity. 


386  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

"He  that  would  get  a  broad  and  correct  view  of  nature 
must  select  some  natural  elevation,  and  look  out  into  the 
universe  which  God  made  ;  look  not  into  a  herbarium  but 
upon  the  unimitated  specimens  that  carpet  the  earth  ;  look 
not  at  orreries  or  any  apparatus,  but  into  infinity  where 
suns  and  planets  securely  ride  along  the  path  marked  by 
the  finger  of  God.  So,  if  we  get  any  clear,  well-defined 
conceptions  of  the  sublime  spiritual  empire,  we  will  not 
look  into  the  musty  herbariums  of  theological  liter- 
ature— not  at  the  men-made  systems,  dimunitive  orreries 
— but  look  out  among  the  thrilling  realities  of  our  holy 
religion,  come  under  the  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness and  look  at  the  spiritual  orbs  that  circle  round  our 
great  spiritual  Head.  O  !  that  the  brethren  could  realize 
the  importance  of  coming  to  the  word  of  God,  as  it  is, 
adopting  the  ivhole  of  it,  and  putting  it  all  in  practice. 
There  are  no  darlings,  no  non-essentials  ;  it  is  all  precious. 

"Hoping  that  there  are  still  many  soldiers  among  us  will- 
ing to  receive  the  truth  and  defend  it,  I  subscribe  myself 
yours  in  the  one  hope.  P.  H.  Murphy. 

"Abingdon,  111.,  January  16,  I860." 

As  the  Missionary  Society  gave  rise  to  the  only  discus- 
sion on  church  polity  or  ecclesiastical  organization,  which 
endangered  the  union  of  the  Disciples,  so  this  "  Russell 
defection  "  was  the  only  serious  doctrinal  difference  ever 
introduced  among  them.  It  seemed  for  a  time  possible 
that  a  considerable  party  might  be  finally  separated  from 
them.  Such  a  result  was  averted  only  by  the  decisive 
utterance  of  so  large  a  number  of  leading  men  as  to  com- 
mand the  attention  of  the  masses  and  fix  them  in  the  posi- 
tion assumed  by  the  Reformation  from  the  beginning. 

That  the  Reformers,  from  the  first,  rejected  the  doctrine 
of  a  mystic  influence  of  the  Spirit  upon  saint  or  sinner, 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  387 

will  not  be  denied  by  any  one  who  knows  their  history. 
It  was  constantly  held  that  the  Christian  lives  and  walks 
by  faith,  and  th;it  faith  is  the  belief  of  the  truth  revealed 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  word  of  God.  The  Spirit 
neither  enlightens  nor  comforts  any  man  by  a  direct  im- 
pact upon  his  spirit. 

This  was  a  fundamental  and  irreconcilable  difference 
between  the  Disciples  and  the  "evangelical  churches.'' 
For  many  years  the  struggle  went  on,  the  Disciples  being 
generally  regarded  as  "un-evangelical,"  because  they 
"  denied  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Meanwhile, 
however,  thousands  were  convinced  that  the  Reformers 
were  right,  and,  surrendering  themselves  to  the  belief  of 
the  truth,  stood  with  them  upon  "the  Bible  as  the  only 
infallible  rufe  of  faith  and  practice," 

When,  therefore,  a  party  arose  among  themselves,  who 
taught  that,  "that  is  never  called  the  Spirit's  influence 
which  is  exerted  merely  through  secondary  agencies," 
but  that,  "the  Spirit  always  works  internally,"  it  was 
as  if  a  party  should  arise  in  a  teetotallers'  society  and 
teach  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  is  wholesome  and  bene- 
ficial to  men.  It  was  an  intolerable  heresy,  and  a  storm  of 
opposition  arose  which  soon  deluged  "  the  defection,"  and 
washed  it  out  of  existence.  The  Reformation  settled 
back  upon  its  original  principle,  that  the  Christian  lives 
and  walks  by  faith,  and  demonstrated  to  the  world  that  a 
religious  people  without  a  denominational  organization  or 
a  human  creed  can  withstand  any  internal  dissension  quite 
as  well  as  they  who  have  both. 

If  it  be  said  that  the  Reformation  is  no  longer  as  em- 
phatic upon  this  subject,  we  respond  that  the  advocates 
of  "experimental  religion"  have  so  greatly  modified 
their  tone  and  so  far  decreased  in  numbers  that  there  is 


388  THE   LTFE    AND    TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN. 

no  longer  any  occasion  for  so  great  emphasis.  VHicn 
circumstances  shall  again  call  for  an  expression,  the  Dis- 
ciples will  be  found  to  be  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  be- 
lii  1"  of  the  truth. 

Mr.  Franklin  and  other  leaders  of  the  Reformation 
were  finally  justified  in  "  handling  the  defection  without 
<rloves."  In  like  manner,  and  in  view  of  all  its  bearings 
upon  our  position  and  work  as  a  religious  people,  we  feel 
that  we  shall  be  justified  in  laying  so  full  a  history  of  it 
before  our  readers. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

/TlHERE  are  no  people  more  actively  engaged  in  the 
I  cause  of  education  than  the  Disciples  who  comprise 
the  "Current  Reformation."  Thomas  Campbell  was 
a  teacher.  Alexander  Campbell  founded  Bethany  College 
and  was  the  soul  of  it  for  above  thirty  years.  For  a 
quarter  of  a  century  a  majority  of  the  educated  preachers, 
and  nearly  all  the  presidents  and  professors  of  colleges 
were  graduates  of  Bethany.  Under  these  the  work  of  ed- 
ucating the  youth  received  a  mighty  impulse,  and  schools 
of  every  grade  were  founded  throughout  the  West. 

Besides  this  influence,  the  principles  of  the  Reformation 
tended  in  no  small  degree  to  make  every  man  who  embraced 
them  a  patron  of  schools.  The  Protestant  sects,  appro- 
priating to  themselves  the  descriptive  term,  "evangelical," 
held  that  the  essence  of  religion  is  the  direct  or  mystic 
influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  soul.  The  knowledge 
of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and  all  the  blessings  of  God's 
grace  are  an  experience  in  the  soul,  just  as  hunger  and 
thirst,  or  headache  and  toothache,  are  an  experience  in  the 
body.  All  that  men  could  learn  was  to  expect  such  a 
divine  power,  and  all  that  they  could  do  was  to  pray  for 
it.  Such  a  religion  had  nothing  in  it  to  stir  a  man  in  the 
cause  of  education.  Many  who  held  this  view  of  religion 
were  educators  and  patrons  of  schools,  but  not  because 
their  religion  moved  them  to  it.  The  Reformers,  on  the 
other  hand,  held  that  the  truths  of  religion  are  a  revela- 
tion in  the  word  of  God,  and  that  he  who  would  know  and 
enjoy  them  should  apply  his  mind  to  understand  the  Bible. 


390  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

They  regarded  the  Holy  Spirit  as  much  more  than  a  mere 
impulse  from  God  working  mystically  on  man's  nature. 
He  was  to  them  an  intelligent  person,  who  has  communi- 
cated his  knowledge  of  the  things  of  God  in  the  words  he 
has  spoken.  This  intelligence  is  a  sacred  history,  to  be 
understood  and  believed  through  the  exercise  of  man's 
natural  faculties.  They  were  on  this  account  sneered  at 
as  having  only  a  "head  religion."  But  sneers  tend  rather 
to  confirm  men  than  to  shake  their  convictions  in  any 
matter  of  serious  importance,  and  they  held  on  in  their 
course.  Their  preaching  was  an  appeal  to  the  understand- 
ing of  man,  and  they  trusted  the  power  of  the  truth 
believed  to  move  the  heart  and  conscience.  In  this  view 
of  religion  they  held  that  men  of  cultivated  minds  would 
more  readily  grasp  religious  truth,  and  especially  that  such 
would  be  more  successful  in  communicating  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth  to  others.  Their  zeal  in  religion,  therefore, 
made  them  zealous  in  the  cause  of  education. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  an  uneducated  man.  He  was 
very  deficient  in  the  kind  of  knowledge  attained  at  school. 
But  he  was  not  an  ignorant  man.  It  was  his  great  knowl- 
edge of  men,  of  society,  and  especially  of  the  Bible,  that 
gave  him  such  power  before  the  people.  His  knowledge 
in  this  direction  enabled  him,  very  early  in  his  career,  to 
realize  his  own  literary  defects,  and  made  him  a  liberal 
patron  of  schools.  We  have  at  hand,  from  his  pen,  a 
scathing  rebuke  of  some  ignoramuses  who  decried  an  edu- 
cation, more  especially  an  educated  ministry.     He  says: 

"I  am  aware  that  we  have  some  public  men  who  are 
jealous  of  an  educated  man,  and  occasionally  are  heard  to 
thank  'God  that  they  have  never  been  to  college — that 
they  can  preach  the  Gospel  as  well  as  anybody — that  the 
people  ought  to  be  aware  of  these  high  lamt  fellers — that 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  391 

Gocl  has  hid  these  things  from  sages,  and  revealed  them 
unto  babes,'  &c,  &c.  '  But  those  who  talk  in  this  strain 
are  to  be  pitied  more  than  blamed,  for  they  have  not 
really  learned  enough  to  be  sensible  what  is  the  matter 
with  them.  Even  these  can  read  the  scripture,  although 
not  very  well  in  some  instances  ;  and  if  they  go  in  for 
depreciating  learning,  why  not  go  against  what  learning 
they  already  have,  in  the  place  of  using  all  they  have,  and 
their  talents  and  influence,  to  disparage  learning  in  others? 
If  men  oppose  learning  at  all,  why  not  go  against  all 
learning  at  once,  and  be  consistent ?" 

This  extract  is  from  a  sermon  published  in  the  Up  former 
for  1847,  in  which  he  affirms  that  "there  is  an  indissoluble 
connection  between  education  and  Christianity."  His 
view  of  this  "indissoluble  connection"  we  learn  from  the 
following  extract  from  the  same  sermon  : 

"The  Lord  of  life  and  glory,  is  styled  by  the  prophet, 
'the  Sun  of  righteousness,'  who  should  'arise  with  healing 
hrhis  wings.'  In  keeping  with  this,  John  the  Immerser, 
said,  'the  light  shines  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  com- 
prehends it  not.'  This  faithful  servant  of  God  told  his 
auditory  candidly  that  he  was  'not  that  Light,  but  was 
sent  to  bear  witness  of  that  Light.-'  He  testifies  that  'he 
was  the  true  Light  which  lighteth  every  man  that  Cometh 
into  the  world.' 

"Light  is  evidently  figurative  in  these  expressions,  and 
signifies  religious  instruction.  When  Christ  is  styled  'the 
Lisrht,'  the  same  idea  is  communicated  as  when  he  is 
called  'the  Teacher.'  The  idea  is"  that  he  is  the  source  of 
instruction,  the  fountain  of  all  spiritual  and  moral  light 
or  instruction.  It  was  in  view  of  this  great  fact :  the  Al- 
mighty exclaimed  at  the  transfiguration,  'This  is  my  Son, 
hear  ye  Him,'  This  light  or  instruction  the  Saviour  coin- 


392  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

mimicates  in  words  addressed  to  the  understanding  of 
mankind.  Hence  the  good  ground,  in  the  parable  of  the 
sower,  is  the  man  who  'receives  the  word  into  a  good  and 
honest  heart,  understands  and  obeys  US  He  also  avers 
that  'his  word  is  spirit  and  life.'  This  accords  with  the 
words  of  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel,  'the  entrance  of  thy 
word  giveth  light.'*  " 

And  again,  as  to  what  colleges  can  do  and  cannot  do, 
he  says : 

"But  perhaps  I  am  referred  to  some  few  men  who  have 
arisen  to  greatness  and  usefulness  without  a  collegiate  ed- 
ucation.  It  is  true,  the  world  has  produced  a  few  such  ; 
but  in  place  of  their  boasting  of  never  having  been  to 
college  they  lament  it,  as  a  great  advantage  of  which  they 
had  been  deprived.  Not  only  so,  but  no  one  is  able  to  tell 
what  such  men  might  have  been  and  done,  had  they  not 
been  deprived  of  this  advantage. 

"On  the  other  hand  we  are  referred  to  some  who  have 
been  to  college  and  are  of  no  importance.  We  admit  that 
there  are  such.  So  are  there  men  who  have  been  trained 
for  every  calling,  who  are  not  proficients ;  but  is  this  an 
argument  against  training  others?  Surely  not.  Even  a 
college  of  the  best  kind  cannot  make  a  man  without  a 
foundation.  There  must  be  materials  in  the  first  place, 
and  then  with  the  proper  workmanship,  the  desired  object 
may  be  attained." 

Mr.  Franklin,  through  the  Reformer,  the  Age,  and  the 
Review,  gave  his  influence  constantly  in  favor  of  schools. 
He  assisted  greatly  in  founding  and  sustaining  Fairview 
Academy  in  Indiana,  and  Northwestern  Christian  Univer- 
ity,  which  grew  out  of  it.  And  when  the  work  of  organ- 
izing Kentucky  University  was  in  hand,  his  periodical, 
then  very  powerful  in  Kentucky,  went  very  far  toward 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  393 

persuading  the  Disciples  in  that  State  to  give  it  material 
and  moral  support. 

In  course  of  time  two  questions  in  regard  to  the  colleges 
came  under  discussion,  and  a  third  was  involved,  but  was 
very  slightly  discussed : 

1st.  * 'Bible  colleges,' '  or,  a  special  course  of  training 
for  young  men  looking  to  the  ministry. 

2d.  The  employment  of  professors  who  were  not  iden- 
tified with  the  Reformation. 

3d.  Whether  any  of  the  schools  may  be  regarded  as 
denominational  schools  among  a  people  who  have  no  de- 
nominational machinery. 

While  the  Disciples  were  very  active  and  prominent 
in  the  work,  and  fully  realized  the  importance  of  an  edu- 
cated ministry,  they  were  from  the  beginning  opposed  to 
theological  schools.  Bethany  college  gave  no  especial 
instructions  to  candidates  for  the  ministry.  The  instruc- 
tions in  the  Bible  were  suited  to  the  wants,  and  alike  free 
to  all  the  students.  There  was  nothing  in  its  operations 
that  could  distinguish  it  as  a  theological  school.  But  more 
lately  there  are,  in  a  number  of  the  colleges,  departments 
known  as  "Bible  Colleges."  These  are  identical  with 
theological  seminaries  in  their  purpose,  which  is  that  of 
especial  instruction  adapted  to  the  wants  of  young  men 
preparing  for  the  ministry.  The  difference  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  fact  that  among  the  Disciples  those  who  have  the 
ministry  in  view  are  not  compelled  to  complete  the  course, 
and,  after  examination,  receive  a  license  before  they  are 
permitted  to  preach.  There  is  no  denominational  ma- 
chinery for  such  a  purpose.  Any  man,  with  the  tacit 
consent  of  the  congregation  of  which  he  is  a  member,  may 
preach  without  going  through  the  Bible  college.     And  any 

student  may  attend  all,  or  so  much  of  the  Bible  course  as 
IS 


394  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

he  may  choose,  without  being  entered  as  a  candidate  for 
the  ministry. 

There  is,  therefore,  no  discussion  of  the  question  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  of  the  Bible  colleges.  But  some 
have  doubted  their  propriety,  and  expressed  a  fear  that 
they  will  eventually  assume  the  right  to  graduate  and  li- 
cense candidates  for  the  ministry.  The  moral  effect,  it  is 
alleged,  already  tends  in  that  direction.  And  it  is  doubt- 
less true,  that  those  persons  who  seek  the  formation  of  a 
denominational  organization,  also  desire  a  supervision  of 
the  ministry  and  a  prescribed  course  through  which  any 
one  must  pass  to  enter  the  ministry.  The  discussion  of 
the  Bible  college  is,  therefore,  only  a  phase  of  the  dis- 
cussion of  denominationalism,  treated  of  in  a  former 
chapter. 

When  the  Disciples  gave  of  their  money  to  found  and 
endow  colleges,  they  did  so  with  the  idea  that  the  influ- 
ence of  those  colleges  would  be  given  to  the  extension  of 
the  principles  of  the  Reformation.  In  that  sense  they 
were  expected  to  be  denominational.  But  whether  that 
influence  was  to  be  exerted  by  having  those  principles 
regularly  taught,  or  only  through  the  personal  influence 
and  example  of  teachers,  was  a  question  which  the  people 
had  not  well  considered.  But  that  all  the  faculty  should 
be  Christians,  and  identified  with  the  Reformation,  was 
as  well  settled  as  anything  in  the  public  mind. 

We  shall  not  pursue  this  subject  farther  than  to  note 
the  course  taken  by  Mr.  Franklin,  and  we  shall  rely 
mainly  on  his  own  statements  for  this  purpose.  It  will 
be  seen  from  the  extracts  below  that  the  objections  raised 
by  him  were  not  against  education  nor  against  schools, 
but  the  way  in  which  some  schools  were  managed.  He 
especially  expressed    his  disappointment  in  the  schools 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  395 

generally  regarded  as  denominational,  and  the  Bible  col- 
leges. He  became  finally  well  grounded  in  the  opinion 
that  all  schools  ought  to  be  as  purely  secular  as  a  book- 
store, and  that  religious  instruction  should  be  ministered 
entirely  through  the  church  and  Sunday-school,  or  by 
the  enterprise  of  individuals. 

The  greatest  sensation  in  regard  to  any  school  was 
caused  by  the  course  of  the  Regent  and  Board  of  Curators 
of  Kentucky  University.  The  Regent  and  a  majority  of 
the  Board  adopted  "liberal"  or  "progressive"  views, 
and  attempted  to  modify  the  University  accordingly. 
Some  professors  were  employed  who  were  believed  to  be 
skeptical  in  regard  to  the  truth  of  the  Bible.  Under  the 
plea  of  making  the  school  "  non-sectarian,"  they  at- 
tempted to  stop  the  instruction  of  the  students  of  the 
Bible  College  in  the  principles  of  the  Reformation.  Prof. 
J.  W.  McGarvey  was  at  the  head  of  the  Bible  College. 
A  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  him  to  bring  him 
to  their  views  or  expel  him  from  the  College.  They 
persisted  in  their  persecution,  until  he,  with  two  other 
persons,  united  and  constituted  a  new  Bible  college,  in- 
dependent of  the  University. 

A  great  university,  comprising  half  a  dozen  colleges, 
and  receiving  the  patronage  of  a  thousand  students,  was 
too  large  an  establishment  to  be  managed  by  a  "  brother- 
hood "  who  have  no  denominational  machinery.  A  self- 
perpetuating  Board  of  Curators  set  quietly  to  work  to 
create  a  majority  to  suit  the  "  liberal "  views  of  the 
Regent,  and  then  to  run  the  university  to  their  own 
notion.  Ere  the  "brotherhood"  were  aware  of  what  was 
doing,  the  Regent  and  his  majority  of  curators  had  it  all  in 
their  own  hands.  Nothing  was  left  to  the  people  but  to 
withdraw  patronage  and  starve  the  institution  into"  sub- 
mission to  their  will. 


396  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Some  time  after  the  expulsion  of  Prof.  McGarvey,  Mr. 
Franklin  wrote  as  follows : 

"We  have  recently  spent  two  months  in  Kentucky, 
and,  so  far  as  we  have  gone,  the  protest  against  the  man- 
agement of  the  university  is  almost  universal.  At  last 
advices  about  one  hundred  churches  had  taken  action,  and 
the  protest  was  almost  universal.  An  expression  has  also 
been  obtained  from  a  large  number  of  the  donors,  and 
that  has  been  found  to  be  almost  universal,  in  the  same 
direction.  We  know  not  whether  an  effort  has  been 
made  to  obtain  an  expression  from  the  preachers  ;  but, 
should  this  be  done,  the  expression  will  be  of  the  same 
sort  and  equally  as  near  universal. 

"  The  Regent  made  objections  to  John  W.  McGarvey, 
and  we  have  been  informed  that  he  said  that  McGarvey 
must  go  out,  or  he  must.  McGarvey,  we  understand, 
was  brought  before  the  Board  and  the  Regent's  charges 
preferred.  He  had  several  of  the  ablest  lawyers  he  could 
get  to  assist  him  in  the  prosecution.  McGarvey  appeared 
in  his  own  defense,  without  any  counsel.  After  a  full  and 
fair  investigation  nothing  was  proved  against  McGarvey, 
and  he  was  cleared  by  the  Regent's  own  Board.  Yet,  an 
executive  committee  that  had  no  power  to  act  in  the 
matter,  according  to  the  charter,  removed  him  from  his 
chair  in  the  College  of  the  Bible  !  This  was  done,  too, 
without  openly  preferring  an  objection  to  him,  or  giving 
a  reason  for  their  procedure.  This  unprecedented  con- 
duct of  the  Board  shows  the  unfairness  of  the  determined 
course  of  the  dominant  party  in  the  Board.  We  gave  it 
as  our  deliberate  opinion,  a  year  ago,  that  the  majority 
party  in  the  Board  and  the  Regent  disregarded  the  wishes 
of  the  donors  to  the  University  and  their  brethren  in  the 
State,  to  whom  the  University  belongs,  and  who  have  the 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  397 

right  to  control  it.  If  they  had  been  trying  by  actual 
demonstration  to  show  the  correctness  of  our  opinion,  we 
know  not  how  they  could  have  done  it  to  better  advan- 
tage. We  never  saw  a  more  complete  demonstration  and 
illustration  of  the  principle  that  i  might  gives  right.'  It 
is  right  for  this  party  to  do  as  they  please,  because  they 
have  the  power  to  do  it. 

"  Many  well-meaning  people  thought  no  harm  was 
meant,  and  that  the  alarm  was  groundless — that  all  was 
safe.  But  look  at  the  state  of  things  now.  Leading 
men  in  this  factious  movement  are  now  talking  about  the 
churches  taking  action  in  the  matter  indignantly,  and  in- 
quiring: '  What  business  have  the  churches  with  it?' 
This  is  a  little  cool.  The  brethren  of  the  State  make  up 
the  churches,  and  the  charter  of  the  University  recog- 
nizes them  as  the  owners  of  the  University,  and  as  having 
the  right  to  control  it.  The  appeal  was  made  to  them  for 
money  to  build  it.  The  appeal  was  made  in  their  name. 
Under  that  name  they  poured  out  their  munificence.  It 
was  to  be  their  University,  and  they  were  to  control  it.  It 
was  for  the  cause — the  Bible  cause.  But  how  is  it  now? 
It  is  out  of  their  hands,  and,  by  the  dominant  party  in 
the  Board,  regarded  as  an  impertinence  for  them  to  give 
an  expression  of  their  mind." 

This  was  in  1873.  Three  years  later  these  "  liberal  " 
views  began  to  influence  the  professors  of  other  colleges. 
Bethany  and  Abingdon  (Illinois)  Colleges  received  the 
following  editorial  criticisms,  comprehending  the  editor's 
views  at  the  time.  We  quote  first  from  the  Review  for 
October  10  : 

"  We  do  not  disguise  the  fact  that  we  are  not  working 
for  Bethany  College.  We  are  taking  no  interest  in  it. 
We  worked  for  it  all  the  time  till  Bro,  Campbell  died, 


398  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

subscribed  and  paid  $100  to  its  support  since  his  death. 
Things  have  been  occurring  all  along  since  to  cut  our 
affections  off  from  it  till  we  have  no  sympathy  with  it. 
We  do  not  believe  it  is  doing  the  cause  any  good.  We 
are  now  measuring  every  word  we  write,  and  understand 
the  meaning  of  every  word.  We  can  give  reasons  for 
what  we  are  saying  to  any  extent  the  reader  may  desire. 
We  shall  put  down  a  very  few  things  briefly  here  : 

"1.  We  have  become  perfectly  satisfied  that  education, 
in  the  popular  sense,  is  purely  secular,  and  is  not  a  church 
matter.  The  church  ought  to  be  connected  with  no  edu- 
cational enterprise.  We  are  in  favor  of  no  church 
college.  This  is  a  matter  that  may  be  discussed  at  length, 
but  we  enter  into  no  discussion  of  it  now.  Still,  this 
would  not  utterly  cut  off  our  sympathy  with  Bethany 
College,  other  matters  being  equal. 

"  2.  One  of  the  main  pleas  Alexander  Campbell  made 
for  a  college  under  the  control  of  Christians  was,  in  view 
of  the  moral  training,  that  no  man  was  educated  in  the 
true  sense  who  was  not  cultivated  in  heart.  This  we  hold 
to  be  as  true  as  any  principle  yet  uttered.  To  this  end 
there  should  be  sound  professors  to  train  students,  and 
there  should  be  a  sound  church  in  the  vicinity  of  the  col- 
lege, maintaining  the  highest  order  of  morality,  order 
and  discipline." 

In  the  issue  for  December  5,  1876,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing: 

"  The  plain  truth  is,  we  have  been  most  terribly  disap- 
pointed and  let  down  by  the  experiment  we  have  made  in 
colleges.  We  entered  the  work  with  the  balance,  many 
years  ago,  and  plead  for  colleges  for  the  education  of  our 
young  men — specially  preachers.  We  saw  the  disadvan- 
tage we  had  labored  under,  in  starting  in   ignorance  and 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  399 

without  education,  and  thought  if  we  had  a  college  under 
the  control  of  Christians,  that  our  young  men  would  not 
have  to  struggle  under  the  same  disadvantage.  But  our 
colleges,  at  least  the  most  of  them,  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  men  that  are  not  doing  the  work  Mr.  Campbell 
intended,  nor  the  work  we  want.  They  have  disregarded 
the  wishes  of  the  people  they  were  intended  to  bless, 
and  are  now  giving  pretty  general  dissatisfaction,  and  are 
running  down.  Progression  has  grasped  Kentucky  Uni- 
versity, and  from  more  than  eight  hundred  students,  as  it 
had  at  one  time,  it  has  fallen  down  to  a  little  over  two 
hundred,  and  has  a  debt  to  its  professors  of  $30,000  hang- 
ing over  it !  Bethany  College,  with  capacity  of  buildings 
for  from  five  to  seven  hundred  students,  is  limping  along 
with  probably  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty,  and  an 
enormous  debt  hanging  over  it !  Abingdon  College  has 
been  cut  down  from  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  students 
to  some  thirty-five!  This  is  the  work  progress  is  doing 
for  us  !  The  men  at  the  head  of  all  this  work  are  our 
'  advanced  thinkers,'  keeping  up  with  *  the  spirit  of  the 
age!'" 

We  shall  devote  the  remainder  of  this  chapter  to  some 
items  which  could  not  be  conveniently  inserted  in  connec- 
tions which,  to  the  reader,  may  seem  more  appropriate 
for  them.  These  items  will  have  no  connection  with  each 
other,  but  will  be  found  to  relate  to  matters  that  have 
preceded  them. 

The  American  Bible  Union,  in  1859,  gave  the  work  of 
a  preliminary  revision  of  Matthew  into  the  hands  of  Dr. 
T.  J.  Conant,  a  Baptist  minister.  On  coming  to  the  term 
f*.  John  the  Baptist,' '  the  doctor  retained  it  in  this  form 
instead  of  translating  it  f*  John  the  Immerser,"  as  it  was 
believed  the  rules  of  tk§  Upion  required  him  tp  do,    Uis 


400  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OP 


reasoning  in  favor  of  the  retention  of  the  old  form,  may 
be  learned  from  the  following  notes  : 

Matt,  iii ;  1. — "  The  Baptist.  This  word  is  constantly 
used  in  the  New  Testament  as  the  surname  of  an  indi- 
vidual, by  which  he  was  distinguished  from  all  others.  No 
other  one  bore  this  appellation.  That  it  was  strictly  a 
surname,  by  which  he  was  generally  known,  is  shown  by 
Josephus,  who  expressly  says  that  he  was  *  surnamed 
Baptist.'  As  we  say  the  Christ  (not  the  Anointed),  in 
such  passages  as  Matt.  xvi.  16,  xxii.  42,  and  Jesus  the 
Christ,  Acts  v.  42,  we  should  on  the  same  principle  say 
John  the  Baptist. "t 

Ch.  iv.  1.— Note:  "  The  Devil.  The  Greek  word 
means  traducer  (false  accuser),  and  with  the  article  was 
applied  to  the  chief  of  the  fallen  spirits,  as  a  designation 
of  his  character  and  work,  and  was  the  name  by  which  he 
was  familiarly  known.  On  this  account  (as  in  the  case  of 
John  the  Baptist,  the  Christ,  see  note  on  ch.  ii.  4,  iii.  1) 
the  name  should  be  retained.  To  translate  the  word, 
i.  e.  here,  was  tempted  by  the  traducer,  John  viii.  44,  ye 
are  of  your  father  the  traducer,  would  be  to  obscure  the 
word  of  God,  instead  of  making  it  more  plain ;  for  every 
one  knows  who  is  meant  by  the  Devil,  but  few  would 
recognize  him  under  the  name  of  the  traducer.  The 
word  Satan  comes  under  the  same  rule.  Should  we 
translate  in  Matt.  xii.  26, '  And  if  the  adversary  cast  out  the 
adversary,'  we  should  only  darken  what  is  now  clear. 
The  principle  in  all  these  cases  is  the  same,  and  they 
should  be  treated  alike." 

In  his  note  on  Matt.  ii.  4,  Dr.  Conant  says  that  the 
word  Christ  "  from  an  official  appellation  or  title,  passed 
over  to  a  proper  name  j  $1)4  js  the  one  by  wfrich  the  Sav- 
iour is  known," 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  401 

Mr.  Franklin,  when  this  came  to  his  knowledge,  declared 
that,  "  this  matter  of  retaining  the  word  *  Baptist' is 
small  in  itself,  but  it  has  immense  consequences  connected 
with  it.  If  it  is,  as  we  believe  scholars  will  generally  re- 
gard it,  a  most  manifest  violation  of  principle,  and  it 
should  be  adopted  by  the  Final  Committee,  it  will  destroy 
confidence"  A  number  of  Disciples  of  considerable 
learning  undertook  to  defend  Dr.  Conant.  But  they  had 
not  the  faculty  of  bringing  their  reasons  before  the 
masses  as  Mr.  Franklin  could,  and  their  voices  were 
nearly  drowned  in  the  cry  of  condemnation  which  arose. 
Confidence  in  the  Bible  Union  was  so  much  weakened  as 
to  greatly  lessen  the  contributions  to  its  support  from  the 
Disciples.  How  Mr.  Franklin  treated  the  subject  maybe 
learned  from  the  following  extract  from  an  editorial  in  the 
Review : 

"  Matt.  x.  3,  we  find  Matthew  called  "  the  publican," 
and  so  called  to  distinguish  him  from  all  others.  No 
other  one  bore  this  appellation.  Here  Dr.  Conant  finds 
no  surname  to  hinder  him  from  translating  the  Greek 
word  telonees.  Why  did  he  not  give  us  '  Matthew  the 
Telonees?  Telonees  is  just  as  much  a  proper  name  here, 
as  Baptist  is  in  the  other  case.  The  Doctor  gives  us  here, 
and  very  justly  too,  'Matthew,  the  publican. '  Why  would 
he  not,  on  his  principle  of  translating,  give  us  'Elymas, 
the  Magos,9  and  maintain  that  Magos  is  the  name  of  an 
individual  by  which  he  is  distinguished  from  all  others? 
But  magos  means  sorcerer,  and  expresses  an  occupation 
and  not  the  surname  of  an  individual.  We  should  not  read, 
'Luke,  the  IatrosS  'Matthew,  the  Telonees,  'Elymas,  the 
Magos,9  nor  'John,  the  Baptist;9  but  'Luke,  the  physi- 
cian,' 'Matthew,  the  publican,'  'Elymas,  the  sorcerer,' and 
'John,  the  immerser.' 


402  THE   LIFE   AND   TrMES   OF 

"Now  we  judge  nothing  of  the  motives  of  Dr.  Conant in 
retaining  the  word  Baptist.  But  the  following  are  facts  : 
"1.  Dr.  Conant  is  a  Baptist. 

"2.  The  Baptists  have  been  in  a  fret  about  that  very  word 
ever  since  the  founding  of  the  Bible  Union,  fearing  that 
they  would  lose  their  scriptural  name  and  have  the  word 
immerser  instead  of  it. 

"3.  Men  will  reason  upon  the  matter  as  they  please,  and 
whether  the  translator  ever  thought  of  it  or  not,  they  will 
think  he  has  swerved  in  favor  of  the  Baptists ;  and  it  will 
destroy  confidence  in  the  work.  If,  however,  he  can  be 
sustained  in  retaining  the  word  Baptist,  and  making  it  a 
surname,  then  let  it  be  so.  But,  with  our  limited  oppor- 
tunities to  know,  we  do  not  believe  there  is  any  reason  or 

learning  in  the  world  to  sustain  him. 

© 

4 'We  care  nothing  for  the  thing  in  itself,  as  it  would 
amount  to  nothing  favorable  to  calling  a  church  a  Baptist 
church,  even  if  John's  surname  was  Baptist.  It  would 
not  make  those  whom  he  baptized  Baptists.     We  only 

resfret  the  thins:  on  account  of  the  efFect  it  will  have  on 

©  © 

the  faithfulness  of  the  Bible  Union  and  the  revised  Scrip- 
tures." 

Dr.  Conant  was,  however,  overruled  by  the  Final  Com- 
mittee, or  modified  his  opinion;  for,  in  the  final  revision 
Baptistees  is  translated  "Immerser*."' 

In  the  excited  state  of 'feeling  against  Dr.  Conant,  the 

©    ©  ' 

loss  of  confidence  in  the  Bible  Union  was  not  the  only 
misfortune.  He  gave  to  the  public  in  connection  with  his 
preliminary  version  of  Matthew,  not  only  very  instructive 
critical  notes,  but  a  pamphlet  on  "The  Meaning  and  Use 
of  Baptizein,"  which  is  of  inestimable  value  to  those  who 
are  not  scholars,  and  a  very  convenient  work  for  scholars. 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  403 

While  there  are  many  who  would  charge  Mr.  Franklin 
with  having  made  an  unnecessary  ado  over  the  prevalence 
of  demoralizing  influences  in  the  churches,  there  are  few 
who  would  not  admit  that  there  are  such  influences  at  work. 
The  tendency  of  all  public  entertainments  gotten  up  to 
raise  money  for  churches  is  to  run  into  revelry.  It  is  but 
recently  that  such  means  have  been  resorted  to  among  the 
Disciples.  It  is  an  expedient  originating  in  the  Papal 
Church,  and  afterward  adopted  in  the  so-called  "liberal" 
churches,  and  finally  resorted  toby  "evangelical"  churches 
under  the  pressure  of  heavy  debts.  In  the  spring  of 
1858,  a  "Festival  of  the  ladies  of  the  Second  Universalist 
Church"  in  Cincinnati,  was  held  in  Melodeon  Hall.  The 
first  item  in  the  programme  was  a  "grab-box  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  juveniles."  The  next  was  speeches  by 
Universalist  and  Unitarian  preachers,  made  up  of  some 
comments  on  "well-regulated  amusements,"  and  some 
sneers  at  the  usual  devotions  of  religious  people,  and  es- 
pecially at  the  general  religious  awakening  which  prevailed 
throughout  the  country  at  the  time.  Next  came  a  comic 
poem  entitled  "The  Whiskers,"  by  Mr.  Alfred  Burnet. 
This  was  followed  by  a  supper,  and  the  supper  by  a  dance. 

The  report  of  this  performance,  in  the  Cincinnati  Ga- 
zette, was  copied  by  Isaac  Errett,  who  was  then  a  regular 
contributor  to  the  Review,  and  who  added  the  following 
comment : 

"  Such,  then,  are  the  fruits  of  Universalism  and  Uni- 
tarian '  liberal '  Christianity  !  While  men  of  God  and 
those  who  reverence  the  divine  oracles  meet  daily  for 
prayer,  Universalists  and  Unitarian  «  Christians  '  meet  to 
4  trip  it  on  the  light  fantastic  toe' — they  meet  to  ridicule 
revivals  and  praying  men — they  spend  the  hours  designed 
by  God  and  nature  for  meditation,  repose  and  sleep,  for 


404  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

mirth,  festivity  and  dissipation.  With  them  the  wisdom 
of  the  ancient  bards  and  prophets  of  God  was  folly,  and 
Solomon's  Temple  an  *  old  shanty,'  in  comparison  with 
the  halls  of  Cincinnati  and  Chicago." 

Mr.  Franklin,  with  characteristic  emphasis,  added  : 
"  In  another  column,  the  reader  will  find  an  account  of 
the  u  Universalian  Ball,"  for  the  benefit  of  their  church. 
Religious  fairs  have  been  practiced  by  apostate  profes- 
sors, unregenerated  church-members  and  worldly  pre- 
tenders, at  sundry  intervals  from  the  time,  and  before  the 
time,  when  the  Lord  made  a  scourge  of  cords  and  whipped 
a  set  of  religious  revelers  and  pretenders  out  of  his  Fath- 
er's house,  and  from  the  place  where  the  Lord's  name 
was  recorded,  in  the  temple,  to  the  present  period.  If 
he  should  enter  some  of  the  churches  now,  finding  the 
various  articles  of  merchandise,  if  not  consisting  of  doves 
and  pigeons,  as  in  the  temple  of  old,  trinkets  and  the 
like,  accompanied  with  risks  and  chances,  amounting  to 
gambling,  with  the  scourge  in  his  hand,  many  of  the 
worldly  and  fleshly  preachers,  at  the  head  of  their  de- 
luded flocks,  would  retreat  before  him  in  horrible  alarm, 
tumbling  pell-mell  out  at  doors,  windows,  or  any  other 
aperture  through  which  a  guilty  rebel  and  desecrator  of 
religion  could  escape.  While  pious  men  are  lamenting 
and  grieving  over  the  increase  of  crime,  the  reckless  ad- 
vances of  unbelief,  and  the  multiplication  of  ignorant, 
silly,  hissing  scoffers  of  religion,  these  '  lovers  of  pleas- 
ure more  than  lovers  of  God,'  have  a  number  of  har- 
angues, consisting  of  the  lowest  sneering,  ridicules  and 
derisions  of  the  efforts  of  godly  men,  in  trying  to  recover 
man  from  his  sins,  from  pretended  preachers,  followed  by 
a  game  of  '  hocus  pocus  '  and  a  dance  !  <  With  lies,' 
says  God,  *  you  have  made  the  heart  of  the  righteous  sad, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  405 

whom  I  have  not  made  sad,  and  strengthened  the  hands 
of  the  wicked  that  he  should  not  return  from  his  wicked 
way  by  promising  him  life.'  '  This  people  worship  me 
with  their  lips,  while  their  hearts  are  far  from  me.'  " 


The  editor  of  the  Review  was  not  singular  in  his  posi- 
tion in  regard  to  agitating  the  subject  of  slavery  as  a  re- 
ligions question.  The  Bible  Society,  in  1847,  took  the 
same  ground — the  annual  address  deploring  it  as  an 
"  unprofitable  controversy  "  which  had  divided  sundry 
"  benevolent  institutions  into  north  and  south."  Although 
anti-slavery  men  sneered  at  this  asa"  one-sided  neutral- 
ity,' '  the  Bible  Society  adhered  to  it  during  its  existence, 
and  the  Missionary  Society  for  over  ten  years  held  the 
same  ground.  In  1858  a  preacher  in  Kansas  sought  for 
aid  from  the  societv,  and  the  establishment  of  a  Kansas 
mission.  His  application  was  not  acted  upon  at  once, 
and  the  corresponding  secretary,  knowing  his  record  as 
an  anti-slavery  agitator,  entered  into  a  correspondence 
with  him  to  ascertain  whether  he  meant  to  continue  that 
agitation  as  a  preacher  uuder  the  society.  A  newspaper 
war  over  the  matter  followed,  in  which  the  corresponding 
secretary  said:  "The  second  article  of  the  constitution 
of  this  society  says,  that,  '  the  object  of  this  society  is  to 
disseminate  the  Gospel  in  this  and  other  lands.'  This 
is  its  only  object.  The  preachers  employed  by  her,  are 
employed  to  preach  the  Gospel,  to  baptize  believers,  and 
to  teach  the  baptized  their  Christian  duties  as  rulers,  sub- 
jects, husbands,  wives,  parents,  children,  masters,  ser- 
vants, etc.,  that  they  may  learn,  by  obedience  to  Christ's 
commands,  to  lay  hold  on  eternal  life.  All  this  is  legiti- 
mately embraced  in  *  disseminating  the  Gospel !  '  "  Then, 
referring  to  the  applicant  for  aid  from  the  society,  the 


406  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

secretary  added:  "  Now,  let  any  man  read  his  tlieory 
and  speculations  on  the  subject  of  slavery  ;  his  statement 
of  Old  Testament  servitude,  and  his  inferences  as  to  what 
must  be  the  character  of  New  Testament  servitude,  etc., 
and  say  if  this  is  any  part  or  parcel  of  the  Gospel  of  the 
blessed  Lord  !  I  care  not  whether  he  is  right  or  wrong 
in  his  theorizings  ;  they  are  no  part  of  the  Gospel,  and 
can  not  be  legitimately  published  at  the  expense  of  the 
society.' ' 

The  following  paragraph  from  the  same  article,  in  its 
sentiments,  might  be  accepted  as  from  the  editor  of  the 
Review ,  himself: 

"  To  conclude  an  article  already  too  long,  and  to  dis- 
miss, we  hope  finally,  a  subject  rudely  thrust  upon  us, 
through  which  some  men  are  seeking  a  notoriety  like  that 
of  Erastratus,  we  say  to  the  brethren  every  where,  that 
the  plea  we  are  making  for  the  union  of  Christians  on  the 
divine  foundation,  and  the  spread  of  the  pure  primitive 
Gospel,  is  worth  more,  in  practical  value,  in  its  bearings 
on  the  destinies  of  the  human  race,  than  all  the  specula- 
tions and  abstractions  of  all  human  systems,  whether  in 
political  or  intellectual  science  !  To  present  a  living  ex- 
ample of  oneness  in  Christ,  is  one  of  the  highest  and 
noblest  efforts  that  any  people  can  undertake.  Let  us 
beware  of  allowing  any  side  issues  to  divert  us  from  this 
great  enterprise,  and  involve  our  labors  in  failure  and  dis- 
aster, for  a  favorite  theory  or  pet  notion,  which,  whether 
true  or  false,  can  neither  save  nor  destroy  the  soul.  Let 
us  beware  of  the  devices  of  Satan,  intended  to  sow  dis- 
cord and  create  strife  and  divisions.  Let  us  not  attempt 
to  be  wise  above  what  is  written,  nor  to  improve  on  the 
Jerusalem  Gospel.  Let  us  seek  to  take  comprehensive 
views  of  Christian  philanthropy,  and  avoid  the  bitter  fruits 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  407 

of  one-ideaism.  And  whatever  may  be  our  differences 
of  opinion  about  a  thousand  things  outside  the  Gospel  ar- 
rangements, let  us  seek  after  unity  of  spirit  and  life  in 
the  proper  recognition  of  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism, one  body,  one  spirit,  one  hope,  and  one  God  and 
Father  of  all." 


We  have  already  made  mention  of  the  fact  that  Joseph 
Franklin  impressed  the  doctrine  of  total  abstinence  from 
the  use  of  ardent  spirits  as  a  beverage  upon  all  of  his 
sons  so  fimly  that  they  all  accepted  it.  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin was  not  only  a  tee-total ler  in  his  own  habits,  but  as  a 
teacher.  He  was  called  out  on  this  subject  in  the  first 
volume  of  the  Reformer,  and  unhesitatingly  took  the  posi- 
tion that  a  Christian  should  not  drink  at  all,  maintaining 
it  as  a  fair  inference  from  the  instructions  given  in  the 
New  Testament.  His  argument  was  as  follows  :  "It  is 
good  neither  to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  anything 
whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is  offended,  or  is  made 
weak."  (Kom.  xiv ;  21.)  "  The  spirit  of  the  new  insti- 
tution not  only  prohibits  the  use  of  that  which  is  injuri- 
ous, in  itself,  but  forbids  the  use  of  that  which  is  good  in 
itself,  if,  by  the  use  of  it,  a  brother  is  offended."  But 
this  seeming  to  admit  that  the  use  of  strong  drinks  might 
be  a  good  thing,  he  went  farther : 

"1st.  It  has  been  determined,  long  since,  by  the  wisest 
and  best  men  that  have  lived  in  modern  times,  that  strong 
drinks  are  injurious  in  themselves,  which  should  deter  a 
reasonable  man  from  the  use  of  them. 

"2d.  Any  man  who  has  had  any  experience  in  the 
affairs  of  churches  knows,  that  by  the  use  of  strong 
drink  many  brethren  have  been  made  to  stumble.  This 
being  the  case,  our  text  forbids  their  use. 


408  THE   LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"3d.  Every  one  knows  that  by  the  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks  many  of  the  best  men  in  the  church,  and  out  of  it, 
are  offended.  This  being  so,  our  text  positively  forbids 
their  use. 

"4th.  That  many  are  made  weak  by  the  use  of  strong 
drinks  only  need  be  stated,  for  all  to  see  who  can  see. 
Here,  then,  I  find  my  fourth  argument  against  strong 
drinks. " 

Two  years  later  he  adds  the  following  total  abstinence 
argument : 

"  The  Christian  is  admonished  to  avoid  every  snare  of 
the  enemy ;  and  that  intoxication  is  a  snare,  and  a  most 
dangerous  one,  needs  no  other  evidence,  than  the  fact 
that  so  many  are  constantly  caught  by  it.  We  insist,  then, 
that  the  only  successful  and  safe  method  of  avoiding  this 
snare,  is  totally  to  abstain  from  it. 

"  Christians  are  commanded  to  shun  every  appearance 
of  evil — to  let  their  light  shine  that  others  may  see  their 
good  works,  which  cannot  be  done  to  the  best  advantage, 
without  a  total  abandonment  of  all  intoxicating  drinks. ,J 

If  in  anything  his  politics  and  religion  ever  ran  to- 
gether, it  was  on  the  subject  of  temperance.  In  1850, 
he  wrote  an  editorial  on  "  Suppressing  Intoxication  by 
Law."  In  this  editorial  he  assumes  that  laws  for  the  pur- 
pose ought  to  be  enacted,  and  only  argues  as  to  the  kind 
of  laws  which  would  prove  most  effectual.  License  laws 
he  regards  as  only  calculated  to  favor  the  larger  and  richer 
drinking-saloons  without  effectually  restraining  the  evils 
of  drinking.  He  urges  the  necessity  of  making  the  liquor- 
seller  responsible  for  the  damaging  results  of  his  traffic. 
In  the  last  year  of  his  life  he  engaged  in  a  newspaper 
controversy  on  the  subject,  and  through  the  columns  of 
the  Beview,  plead  for  stringent  prohibitory   liquor  laws. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  409 

While  the  temperance  excitement,  usually  known  as  "the 
Woman's  Crusade,"  was  carrying  everything  before  it, 
some  parties,  who  knew  his  opposition  to  the  theory  of  a 
mystic  power  of  the  spirit  of  God  (which  seemed  to  be 
the  theory  of  the  "  crusade  "),  came  to  him  to  find  sympa- 
thy in  their  dislike  of  the  movement.  He  at  once  admitted 
that  they  might  not  be  working  in  the  very  best  way,  and 
according  to  the  soundest  principles ;  but,  said  he,  "They 
are  on  the  right  side.  They  are  against  the  iniquitous 
whisky  business,  and  I  am  on  their  side  of  the  question. 
I  wish  them  the  most  abundant  success.,, 


The  question  of  instrumental  music  in  the  worship, 
as  we  have  already  said,  admitted  of  no  compromise. 
They  who  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience  tieated  the  in- 
troduction of  musical  instruments  into  the  worship  just 
as  they  would  have  treated  the  sprinkling  of  infants.  The 
only  way,  therefore,  to  reconcile  a  difficulty  on  this  ques- 
tion is  for  one  party  to  surrender  to  the  other.  In  this 
state  of  the  case  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  hard  words 
were  spoken  and  written. 

Mr.  Franklin's  first  article  against  it  was  published  in 
January,  1860.  He  did  not,  at  that  time,  foresee  the 
dreadful  strife  which  was  to  grow  out  of  it,  and  supposing 
that  only  here  and  there  could  ever  be  found  a  church 
which  would  use  an  instrument,  he  suggested,  ironically, 
some  cases  where  the  use  of  an  instrument  might  prove 
to  be  an  advantage;  for  instance,  "Where  the  church 
never  had,  or  have  lost  the  spirit  of  Christ,"  or,  "  If  the 
church  only  intends  being  a  fashionable  society,  a  mere 
place  of  amusement."  The  church  in  Midway,  Kentucky, 
under  Dr.  L.  L.  Pinkerton,  were  using  a  melodeon,  and 
Dr.  Pinkerton  therefore  felt  called  on  to  reply.  We  quote 
the  opening  and  closing  paragraphs  ; 


410  THE    LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

"  So  far  as  known  to  me,  or,  I  presume,  to  you,  I  am 
the  only  <  preacher '  in  Kentucky  of  our  brotherhood  who 
has  publicly  advocated  the  propriety  of  employing  instru- 
mental music  in  some  churches,  and  that  the  church  of 
God  in  Midway  is  the  only  church  that  has  yet  made  a 
decided  effort  to  introduce  it.  The  calls  for  your  opinion, 
it  is  probable,  came  from  these  regions.  The  paper  con- 
taining your  strictures  has  been  much  circulated  among 
our  congregation,  and  even  sent  to  some  of  its  members 
from  distant  places.  Under  these  circumstances  you  will, 
I  trust,  see  the  propriety  of  this  communication.  I  shall 
endeavor,  in  the  few  lines  I  propose  to  write,  to  give 
your  example  as  wide  a  berth  as  possible,  by  observing 
some  rules  of  courtesy,  and  a  few  of  the  more  common 
rules  of  English  syntax. 

******** 

"  Now,  touching  this  I  have  only  this  to  say — and  I 
say  it  for  the  consideration  of  all  whom  it  may  concern — 
that  if  your  article  on  church  music  reflects  the  notions 
of  the  Reformation  as  to  what  constitutes  Christian  cour- 
tesy, manly  literature,  logic,  rhetoric,  religion ;  nay,  if 
any  considerable  portion  of  the  Reformation  can  even  tol- 
erate such  coarse  fulminations,  then  the  sooner  it  is 
extinct  the  better;  and  I,  for  one,  being  assured  of  this, 
would  feel  myself  impelled  by  everything  I  owe  my  fam- 
ily, my  country,  myself,  and  my  Saviour,  to  aid  in  ridding 
the  world  of  it,  as  of  an  immeasurable  abomination.  By 
what  law  of  man  or  of  God,  written  or  unwritten,  what 
law  of  gentlemanly  civility,  is  one  man  authorized  to 
denounce  another  as  without  the  spirit  of  Christ,  an  ape, 
carnal,  without  devotion,  etc.,  on  account  of  a  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  what  is  expedient  in  a  community  of 
\yhich  the  denounced  is  a  part-=-of  which  the  denouncer 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  411 

knows  nothing?  But  I  forbear.  Finally,  I  am  ready  and 
willing  to  discuss  the  subject  of  instrumental  music  in 
churches  with  any  man  who  can  discriminate  between 
railing  in  bad  grammar  and  Christian  argumentation;  but 
I  am  as  fully  resolved  as  any  man  can  be  to  have  nothing 
to  do  with  '  silly  clap-trap.' 

"Yours  truly, 

"  L.  L.  PlNKERTON." 

Mr.  Franklin  promptly  published  the  doctor's  reply, 
and  in  commenting  thereon  said  :* 

"  We  heard  that  the  church  in  Midway  had  an  instru- 
ment in  it  probably  a  year  ago,  but  heard  again  that  it 
had  been  taken  out,  and  supposed  it  to  be  still  out.  We 
found  an  instrument  in  another  congregation  a  few  weeks 
ago,  and,  by  our  request  it  did  not  sound  a  note  in  our 
hearing,  nor  did  we  see  it  afterwards.  By  several  per- 
sons at  this  point,  and  several  at  other  points,  we  were 
called  out,  and  certainly  did  not  intend  to  be  personal, 
especially   towards   the   Doetor.     We    have    aimed   for 


*  Sixteen  years  later  a  book  appeared  entitled,  "  Life,  Letters,  and  Ad- 
dresses of  Dr.  L.  L.  Pinkerton,"  John  Shackleford,  Jr.,  Editor-  The  follow- 
in?  is  Mr.  Franklin's  editorial  notice  of  the  book:  "We  were  acquainted 
with  the  subject  of  this  volume  for  many  years,  some  of  the  time  quite  inti- 
mately, as  he  conducted  a  Kentucky  department  in  the  Christian  Aye  for  a 
time,  while  we  edited  that  sheet;  and  are  also  some  acquainted  with  the 
author  of  the  volume,  before  us.  Our  relation.to  these  men,  and  the  relation 
they  have  sustained  to  the  cause,  and  which  one  of  them  does  still,  led  us  to 
feel  an  interest  in  looking  into  the  volume.  We  commenced  at  the  fir.st  of  it, 
without  any  decided  purpose  as  to  how  much  of  it  we  would  read.  We  put 
in  an  evening  or  two  while  recovering  from  our  late  illness,  became  inter- 
ested, and  continued  on  till  we  read  the  whole  of  it.  We  do  not  know  that  it 
will  inspire  the  same  interest  in  other  readers  as  it  did  in  us,  both  on  account 
of  our  acquaintance  with  both  subject  and  author.  To  us  it  is  a  book  of  pro- 
found interest  throughout.  The  letters  of  Dr.  Pinkerton  to  members  of  his 
family,  and  to  special  friends,  are  fine  specimens  of  letters,  and  would  be 
read  with  interest  by  almost  any  one  who  can  appreciate  the  beautiful, 
poetic  and  the  emotional," 


412  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

several  years  to  let  him  pass  quietly  without  the  slightest 
interruption  from  us.  We  do  not  wish  to  annoy  him  in 
the  least,  as  we  do  not  desire  to  make  him  unhappy  in 
the  least  degree ;  and  ask  him,  if  he  possibly  can,  to  for- 
give us  grammatically,  logically,  ironically,  and  every 
other  way,  and  then  rest  assured  that  we  do  not  mean  him 
in  any  thing  he  may  find  in  the  Review ;  or,  if  he  does 
not  read  it,  and  any  one  should  call  his  attention  to  any 
thing  we  say,  he  may  explain  that  he  has  assurance  that 
it  does  not  mean  him. 

"As  to  any  extra  copies  sent  him,  or  any  in  his  com- 
munity, we  know  nothing.  We  ordered  no  copies  sent 
to  any  body  in  his  vicinity,  and  did  not  write  the  article 
for  any  particular  community,  nor  to  fit  any  particular 
person.  One  thing  is  certain,  and  that  is,  if  the  instru- 
mental music  had  as  happy  an  influence  upon  his  'poor 
heart'  as  he  appears  to  think,  our  article  or  something 
else  has  had  a  very  different  influence  upon  it  since,  judg- 
ing: from  what  he  has  written  above.  We  wish  the  Doc- 
tor  well,  and  think  he  will  feel  better  after  meditation, 
reading  the  Scriptures,  and  prayer.  He  does  not  do  him- 
self justice  in  this  article.  He  is  a  much  better  man  than 
any  one  would  suppose  from  this  piece.  By  the  way,  we 
would  rather  let  him  have  his  plaything  in  the  church 
than  to  have  him  so  much  out  of  sorts  again.  Will  some 
one  who  understands"'  English  syntax,'  '  logic,'  '  court- 
esy,' etc.,  discuss  the  merits  of  instrumental  music  in 
churches  with  the  Doctor?" 

But  sixteen  years  later  the  question  had  grown  to  be  a 
very  serious  matter.  The  church  in  Charleston,  Illinois, 
had  introduced  an  organ,  and  those  who  were  conscien- 
tiously opposed  to  it  desired  to  know  what  to  do.  Writ- 
ing very  calmly,  very  temperately,  and  with  great  care  in 
view  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  he  said : 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  413 

"But  now,  what  are  the  brethren  in  Charleston,  Illinois, 
opposed  to  the  use  of  the  organ  in  worship,  to  do?  Here 
is  the  hard  problem.  How  is  this  to  be  solved?  We 
have  not  the  room  now  for  full  advice ;  but  we  will  give  a 
few  words : 

"1.  Be  guarded  in  language,  in  reference  to  those  who 
precipitated  the  trouble.  We  regret  one  or  two  expres- 
sions in  the  article  that  appeared  in  our  columns  a  week 
or  two  back.  We  have  no  hard  words  for  any  one,  nor 
personal  feelings  toward  any,  and  can  meet  any  of  them 
and  worship  with  them,  when  they  shall  be  willing  to 
meet  and  worship  according  to  the  Scriptures.  Be  careful, 
then,  and  not  say  anything  personal  to  wound  the  feelings 
of  any,  or  you  may  find  it  in  the  way  when  the  organ 
trouble  may  be  removed. 

"2.  Do  not  denounce  anybody,  nor  pronounce  anything 
severe  on  any  one.  Keep  the  lips  from  guile,  and  when 
cast  down  send  up  continual  supplications  to  the  Lord  to 
open  the  way  out. 

"3.  Be  firm  and  decided  in  reference  to  the  one  thing 
— the  requirement  to  submit  to  the  use  of  the  organ  in 
worship.     Tell  all  that  you  can  not  submit  to  it. 

"4.  Do  not  decide  to  stay  at  home,  and  wait  for  some- 
thing to  turn  up,  nor  make  it  an  excuse  for  going  out  of 
the  church. 

"5.  Declare  non-fellowship  with  no  one;  say  nothing 
about  refusing  fellowship,  or  leaving  the  church,  or  with- 
drawing from  it.  But  deliberately  and  quietly  meet  in 
another  place,  and  worship  regularly  according  to  the 
Scriptures.  Attend  to  the  breaking  of  the  loaf,  the  apos- 
tles' teaching,  prayers,  praise  and  contribution.  Worship 
in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Talk  of  no  new  church,  'second 
church,'  nor  anything  of  the  kind.       One  hundred  thou- 


414  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

sand  disciples  did  not  all  meet  to  worship  in  one  place  in 
Antioch,  nor  did  two  hundred  thousand  all  meet  and  wor- 
ship in  one  place  in  Rome.  But  the  disciples,  in  the  ag- 
gregate, in  any  one  city,  are  the  church,  the  body,  or 
kingdom  of  Christ  there,  no  matter  how  many  places  in 
that  city  thoy  may  have  met  in  to  worship. 

"6.  Do  not  elect  any  overseers  or  deacons,  but  meet 
and  worship,  and  let  such  brethren  as  have  the  gifts  to  do 
so,  lead  the  devotions. 

"If  the  evil  shall  at  any  time  be  removed,  there  will 
then  be  nothing  in  the  way  of  all  meeting  and  worshiping 
together.  If  the  evil  shall  never  be  removed,  your  way 
will  be  clear  to  go  on  and  build  up  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
the  community,  set  the  congregation  in  order  according 
to  Scripture." 


There  are  two  facts  indicative  of  the  solid  character  of 
the  Review  after  its  first  enlargement.  Mr.  Franklin's 
theory  of  the  paper  was  then  carried  into  practice.  About 
two  columns  were  devoted  to  advertising.  But  in  1859, 
the  proprietor  announced  that  "no  advertising  at  any  price 
can  be  inserted,  except  a  few  business  cards,  advertise- 
ments of  colleges,  schools,  books,  etc.,  and  even  these  at 
our  discretion.  No  patent  medicines,  or  anything  of  that 
sort,  can  be  admitted  at  any  price."  This  close  personal 
supervision  of  everything  went  far  toward  giving  the  pa- 
per its  substantial  reputation  while  he  was  able  to  do  so. 

The  other  fact  we  find  in  a  list  of  contributors  furnished 
by  "J.  S.,  jr.,"  a  person  who  was  given  to  the  making  of 
such  reports.  It  was  published  in  the  first  number  for 
1861.     "J.  S.,  jr."  says: 

"  Bro.  Franklin:  You  have  an  able  body  of  writers 
and  correspondents  for  the  Review.     With  your  per  mis- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  415 

sion,  I  will  mention  the  following  brethren  and  friends — 
some  of  them  authors  of  books,  and  others  have  been 
editors  of  papers — viz :  Beardslee,  Barclay,  Burnet, 
Creath,  Cox,  Challen,  Elley,  I.  Errett,  B.  F.  Hall,  Ken- 
drick,  McGarvey,  L.  L.  Pinkerton,  Raines,  John  Rogers, 
Roe,  Walter  Scott,  G.  W.  Rice,  Fillmore,  T.  M.  Allen, 
Archippus,  Andronicus,  Butler,  Bartholomew,  Bledsoe, 
Bauserman,  Brooks,  Doolittle,  Dowling,  Doyle,  J.  Errett, 
Eubank,  Frame,  Ford,  J.  Franklin,  Goodloe,  Goodrich, 
Grubbs,  Garraty,  Gano,  A.  B.  Green,  W.  H.  G.,  Henry, 
C.  D.  H.,  Houston,  Horner,  Howard,  Jourdan,  Johnston, 
James,  Jackson,  Irvin,  King,  M.  N.  Lord,  Lucas,  Longan, 
Meng,  A.  E.  Myers,  Mitchell,  D.  T.  Morgan,  Major, 
Munnell,  McFadin,  McGinn,  Mason,  A.  E.  M.,  Miller, 
Norton,  Prewett,  W.  Pinkerton,  Pyatt,  Philip,  J.  I. 
Rogers,  W.  C.  Rogers,  Rate,  Rowe,  R.  C.  Rice,  G.  W. 
Richardson,  Roberts,  Jer.  Smith,  B.  II.  Smith,  B.  K. 
Smith,  Z.  F.  Smith,  G.  W.  Smith,  Sallee,  Sprague, 
Speer,  Sweeney,  Tiers,  Treat,  J.  Snoddy,  J.  N.  Wright, 
U.  Wright,  Wilmott,  Wilcox,  Walker,  Winter,  etc.  Are 
not  the  above  named  correspondents,  or  a  majority  of 
them,  sufficient  to  recommend  any  weekly  among  us  as  a 
people?  If  not,  well  may  you  despair  of  pleasing  your 
voters  for  the  incoming  year.  I  intend  no  reflection  on 
any  one  whose  name  is  omitted  in  the  foregoing,  for  I 
might  swell  the  list  to  two  or  three  hundred. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

IT  is  impossible  to  make  any  regular  report  of  Mr. 
Franklin's    evangelical    labors  after  the  year   1856. 
Indeed,  could  it  be  done,  the  long  chapters  of  details 
would  have  too  much  sameness  to  be  interesting.   He  had 
no  regular  engagements,  but  traveled  far  and  near,  holding 
protracted  meetings  and  debates  continually. 

We  have  prepared  some  notes  of  the  years  1860  and 
1861,givingnotallhis  journeyings,  nor  all  the  results  ;  but 
enough  that  the  reader  may  form  some  conception  of  the 
immense  labor  performed  by  him  for  almost  a  quarter  of 
a  century. 

In  January,  1860,  he  was  in  Missouri,  and  held  a  six- 
days'  discussion  with  W.  M.  Rush,  a  Methodist  presiding 
elder,  on  baptism,  justification  by  faith,  and  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  An  extended  report  of  this  discus- 
sion, by  J.  W.  McGarvey,  published  in  the  Review,  con- 
tains the  following  paragraph,  which  at  once  shows  the 
secret  of  Mr.  Franklin's  power,  and  is  full  of  suggestion 
to  other  preachers.     Mr.  McGarvey  says  : 

" 1  have  never  known  a  discussion  on  the  action  of 
baptism  in  which  the  usual  affirmation  of  a  negative  was 
so  clearly  maintained ;  and  I  attribute  Brother  Franklin's 
triumph  chiefly  to  his  close  adherence  to  the  English  New 
Testament.  He  made  it  a  question  of  fact,  rather  than  a 
question  of  philosophy  ;  aiming  to  determine  what  was 
done  in  baptism,  rather  than  what  the  word  baptism  sig- 
nifies. Hence,  he  was  always  within  the  range  of  the 
understanding  of  his  audience,  and  left  his  opponent  but 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  417 

little    opportunity  to   hide   his  weakness   by  a  show  of 
learning." 

A  paragraph  in  the  Revieiv  mentions  that  the  editor  was 
in  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  dining  part  of  the  month  of  March, 
and  held  a  meeting  resulting  in  twelve  additions  to  the 
church.  At  this  place,  two  years  before,  he  had  held  a 
discussion  with  S.  M.  Merrill,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  on  four  propositions — three  on  baptism  and  one 
on  justification  by  faith.  The  debate  was  printed  in  the 
Review,  in  full,  and  afterwards  published  in  four  volumes, 
one  on  each  proposition.  In  his  notes  of  the  debate,  Mr. 
Franklin  gives  two  "  trophies,"  viz :  "  1.  Mr.  Merrill 
received  a  fine  gold  watch.  2.  We  remained  one  day 
after  the  debate,  and,  including  three  added  before  the 
debate  began,  we  had  twenty -eight  additions  to  the 
church." 

After  the  meeting  at  Portsmouth  he  went  to  Wheeling, 
Virginia,  and  remained  over  two  Sundays,  baptizing  fifteen 
persons.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Bethany,  the  home  of 
Alexander  Campbell  and  the  location  of  the  most  famous 
college  among  the  Disciples.  It  was  his  first  visit  to  the 
place,  and  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  him  approaching 
it  with  a  feeling  of  profound  reverence.  But  he  was  not 
so  overcome  as  to  lose  the  command  of  his  own  great 
powers.  Very  soon  the  students  of  the  college  were  lis- 
tening with  increasing  interest  to  the  unlettered  preacher 
from  the  West.  Thirty-two  obeyed  the  Gospel,  most  of 
them  students  of  the  college. 

Returning  from  Bethany,  he  tarried  at  home  but  two  or 

three  days  before  setting  out  for  Illinois.     At  Decatur  he 

preached  two  weeks  and  baptized    twenty-eight   persons. 

In  the  midst  of  this    meeting  he  held  a  public  discussion 

with  a  Universalist  preacher  by  the  name  of  Bunn. 
19 


418  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

Before  returning  to  his  home,  he  went  on  to  Chillicothe, 
Missouri,  and  held  a  second  discussion  with  Mr.  Rush,  on 
the  same  propositions  debated  at  Trenton  in  January.  A 
week's  meeting,  with  twenty-five  additions  to  the  church, 
followed  this  discussion.  A  semi-annual  meeting  of  the 
American  Christian  Missionary  Society,  at  St.  Louis,  was 
included  in  this  trip. 

He  had  but  a  day  at  home  before  going  to  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  Ohio  State  Missionary  Society,  at  Belle- 
fontaine. 

The  month  of  June  was  spent  in  Clarksville,  Tennessee, 
and  Hopkinsville  and  Madisonville,  Kentucky.  The  result 
of  the  three  meetings  was  sixty-eight  additions. 

Three  weeks  of  July  were  spent  in  Sherbourne  Mills, 
and  Sharpsburg,  Kentucky. 

Early  in  August  he  went  to  Jacksonville,  Illinois.  This 
was  the  scene  of  the  excitement  produced  by  Walter 
S.  Russell,  one.  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  younger 
men  who  became  enamored  with  the  doctrine  of  "  a 
divinity  within."  Mr.  Russell  had  divided  the  congrega- 
tion at  Jacksonville,  and  led  off  a  majority,  with  his  new 
doctrines.  It  was  observed  that  there  wras  hope  of  over- 
coming the  faction,  and  the  visit  was  protracted  two  weeks 
beyond  the  original  purpose,  Mr.  Franklin  calling  in  a 
two  weeks'  meeting  in  Ohio  to  do  so.  He  staid  two 
weeks  into  September,  holding  two  other  meetings,  each 
of  a  week's  duration,  and  attending  a  session  of  the  Illi- 
nois Missionary  Society.  The  results  of  this  trip  are 
reported  as  seventy-five  additions  to  the  churches. 

The  latter  part  of  September  was  spent  in  Princeton, 
Highland  county,  Ohio,  where  he  baptized  thirty-three 
persons. 

Including  the  second  and  third  Sundays  in  October,  he 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


419 


was  in  Rising  Sun,  Indiana,  where  eleven  were  added  to 
the  church. 

He  returned  home  to  attend  the  October  Anniversary 
at  Cincinnati. 

The  last  week  of  October  and  first  of  November  he  was 
at  Clintonville  and  Flatrock,  Kentucky. 

Three  Sundays  in  December  he  preached  in  Harrods- 
burg,  Kentucky.  John  A.  Williams  was,  at  the  time, 
conducting  a  very  flourishing  female  seminary,  known  as 
"Daughters'  College."  The  meeting  resulted  in  eighty- 
four  additions  to  the  church,  a  large  number  of  whom 
were  the  young  ladies  attending  the  school. 

In  June,  1861,  Mr.  Franklin  made  his  first  visit  to  Can- 
ada, and  attended  a  meeting  at  Rainhnm,  in  Western  On- 
tario, between  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.  It  is  the  custom 
of  the  Disciples  in  this  region  to  hold  an  annual  meeting 
in  June,  commonly  called  the  "June  meeting."  Repre- 
sentatives of  twelve  or  fifteen  churches  assemble  with  one 
of  the  churches,  as  agreed  upon  the  previous  year,  and 
stay  over  Saturday,  Sunday  and  Monday.  A  number 
from  the  adjacent  part  of  New  York  usually  attend.  No 
'«  business  "  of  any  kind  is  done.  The  meeting  is  wholly 
devoted  to  praise,  exhortation  and  preaching.  Some 
well-known  preacher  is  called  to  take  the  lead  in  the 
preaching,  and  often  stays  to  protract  the  meeting.  Mr. 
Franklin  was  the  preacher  called  on  this  occasion,  but  only 
staid  five  days.  This  introduction  to  the  people  of  the 
"  Dominion  "  was  the  beginning  of  a  pleasant  acquaint- 
ance which  was  kept  up  throughout  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 

In  1869  he  made  a  twelve  weeks'  journey,  commencing 
in  June.  His  first  stopping-place  was  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing in  the  State  of  Maine.     Thence  he  went  to  St.  John, 


420  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

New  Brunswick,  and  staid  one  week.  Of  the  church  at 
this  place  he  makes  the  following  note:  "We  learned 
that  for  thirty-five  years  there  has  not  been  a  Lord's  day 
on  which  the  Lord's  table  litis  not  been  spread  in  the  church 
in  St.  John."  Passing  thence  by  rail  across  the  Southern 
part  of  New  Brunswick,  he  reached  the  Strait  of  North- 
umberland. Crossing  the  strait  by  steamer,  he  landed  at 
Summerside,  Prince  Edward's  Island.  Stopping  only 
long  enough  to  preach  one  or  two  discourses  at  this  place 
and  one  other,  he  passed  on  to  Charlottetown,  the  capital 
city  of  the  Island,  where  he  held  a  protracted  meeting. 

This  was  his  farthest  point  from  home  ever  reached  in 
any  of  his  journeyings. 

In  1874  he  made  a  third  trip  to  Canada,  visiting  Toronto 
and  other  points  on  Lake  Ontario,  and  Stayner  and  Mea- 
ford  on  the  Georgian  Bay.  He  had  appointments  nearly 
over  the  same  ground  for  twelve  weeks'  work  in  1877,  but 
being  unable  to  fill  them,  sent  his  son  in  his  place. 

We  have  simply  given  these  brief  notes  of  a  few  of  Mr. 
Franklin's  evangelical  tours,  to  indicate  the  manner  in 
which  the  last  twenty -two  years  of  his  life  as  a  preacher 
were  occupied.  It  would  be,  if  detailed,  a  history  of 
tours  to  Canada,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Wisconsin, 
Michigan,  and  all  over  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Ken- 
tucky, preaching,  debating  and  writing  wherever  he  went. 

We  come  now  to  detail  the  circumstances  of  his  last 
davs  and  death,  as  fully  as  we  can  in  the  brief  space  left 
to  us  in  the  limits  of  this  book. 

The  general  derangement  of  all  kinds  of  business  not 
connected  with  the  progress  of  the  great  Civil  War,  and 
especially  of  moral  and  religious  enterprises,  the  cutting 
off  the  Southern  mails,  and  the  prejudical  influence  of  the 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  421 

charge  of  disloyalty  against  its  editor,  had  combined  to 
greatly  reduce  the  subscription  lists  of  the  Review,  and 
embarrass  the  business  of  the  office.  Mr.  Franklin  had 
traveled  incessantly  and  preached  with  great  energy 
throughout  the  fearful  conflict;  but  he  was  constantly  an- 
noyed and  distressed  to  find,  in  almost  every  church  he 
visited,  an  element  of  opposition  to  him,  or  at  least  sus- 
picion against  him,  leading  many  to  give  him  a  cold  recep- 
tion. If  he  went  North  of  the  Ohio  River,  he  found 
some  persons  industriously  circulating  the  report  that  he 
was  a  "rebel  sympathizer,"  and  exciting  every  person 
whose  prejudices  could  be  excited  in  that  way.  If  he 
went  South,  he  encountered  a  prejudice  equally  strong 
against  him,  because  he  was  a  "northern  radical."  But 
everywhere,  however,  he  found  some,  and  generally  a 
majority,  of  the  members  of  the  church  agreed  with  him 
in  his  conviction  that  these  political  differences  ought  not 
to  distract  the  fellowship  of  brethren  in  Christ.  The 
struggle  that  was  thus  continually  going  on  kept  him  in  a 
fever  of  anxiety  which  visibly  affected  his  physical  vigor. 
A  careworn  expression  settled  upon  his  face,  and  his  hair 
turned  prematurely  gray.  It  is  probable,  although  he 
afterwards  rallied  again,  the  foundation  was  then  laid  for 
afflictions  which  finally  ended  his  life. 

Before  the  war  was  over,  ultraism  had  spent  its  force, 
and  the  distraction  which  had  everywhere  prevailed 
throughout  the  country,  began  to  give  place  to  a  more 
harmonious  feeling,  and  a  better  understanding.  The 
Review  began  immediately  to  realize  the  benefits  of  this 
improved  condition  of  society,  both  in  the  decrease  of  op- 
position and  in  the  increase  of  the  number  of  subscribers. 
Thousands  of  old  friends  returned  to  its  support,  many  of 
those  who  bad  opposed  it,  or  looked  with  suspicion  upon 


422  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

it,  now  admitting  that  the  charges  preferred  against  the 
editor  were  unfounded,  and  that  the  Review  had  pursued 
the  proper  course  for  a  purely  religious  periodical  to  pur- 
sue. 

The  Indiana  Christian  Home  Missionary  Society,  in  the 
Autumn  of  1851,  sent  out  John  B.  New,  a  well-known 
preacher,  resident  in  Indianapolis,  and  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  pioneer  preachers  of  Indiana,  as  an 
"Evangelist."  From  Mr.  New's  report  of  his  labors, 
published  in  the  Christian  Record,  and  dated,  "October 
6th,  1852,"  we  make  the  following  extract: 

"I  entered  upon  my  field  of  labor  immediately  after  the 
close  of  the  State  meeting.  At  Pendleton  we  constituted 
a  church  of  three  members  ;  present  number  nineteen.  At 
Anderson,  in  December,  we  enrolled  a  few  names ;  their 
present  number  is  eleven.  In  April  and  May  we  made 
some  exchanges  with  brother  Daniel  Franklin,  by  request. 
In  June  and  July  I  gave  fifteen  discourses  to  a  little  church 
in  the  south-east  corner  of  Hamilton  county,  where  we  had 
lave  additions,  and  the  church  was  much  built  up  in  the 
Lord.  The  first  eight  months  I  devoted  most  of  my  time 
in  the  towns  of  Pendleton,  Huntsville,  Anderson  and 
Chesterfield,  and  their  vicinities.  Since  that  time  I  have 
been  preaching  in  the  county.  Six  miles  south-west  of 
Anderson,  in  June,  I  gave  six  discourses,  and  in  July  we 
constituted  a  church  of  five  members.  Their  present 
number  is  thirty-four,  and  one  of  their  number  has  begun 
to  preach  the  word." 

All  these  places,  except  one,  are  in  Madison  county, 
Indiana,  of  which  Anderson  is  the  county  town.  This  is 
the  history  of  the  planting  of  the  "Church  of  Christ  in 
Anderson."  As  has  been  before  mentioned,  Daniel  Frank- 
lin had  planted  several  churches  in  the  northern  part  of  the 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  423 

county  ;  and  they  were  at  this  time  in  a  flourishing  condi- 
tion. But  from  Anderson  southward,  excepting  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  White  Chapel  Church,  other  parties  seemed  to 
feel  that  they  had  rights  by  pre-emption,  and  opposition 
to  the  progress  of  the  Disciples  was  very  determined. 
But  John  B.  New  and  Love  H.  Jameson,  then  in  their  full 
vigor,  held  constantly  all  that  had  been  gained,  and  made 
steady  advances. 

In  1861,  the  church  in  Anderson  had  grown  strong 
enough  to  undertake  the  building  of  a  meeting-house. 
In  this  undertaking  they  were  very  greatly  assisted  by  a 
gentleman,*  yet  a  resident  of  Anderson,  but  who  was  not 
a  member  of  the  church.  About  the  time  of  the  com- 
pletion of  the  meeting-house,  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
called  to  Anderson  and  preached  a  series  of  discourses, 
which  resulted  iu  doubling  the  membership  of  the  church. 
The  church,  now  provided  with  a  good  meeting-house, 
conceived  the  plan  of  having  a  resident  preacher  among 
them.  Arrangements  were  made  to  that  effect,  and  in 
June,  1862,  Joseph  Franklin  moved  from  Covington,  Ken- 
tucky, to  Anderson. 

In  his  constant  labors  as  a  travelling  evangelist,  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  was  fully  four-fifths  of  his  time  away 
from  home.      His  wife  was  never  fully  satisfied  to  live  in 


•Mr.  Frederick Brounenberg  has  never  yet  been  more  than  "almost  per- 
suaded to  be  a  Christian."  But  he  was  an  invaluable  friend  of  the  church, 
especially  in  the  days  of  its  weakness,  giving  liberally  of  his  means,  and 
speuding  much  time  in  collecting  money  and  materials  to  build  the  meeting- 
house. His  wife  was  a  member  of  the  church,  and  his  sympathies  always  in- 
clining to  the  weaker  party,  he  joined  heartily  with  the  church,  during  the 
days  of  its  feebleness,  in  everything  except  obedience  to  the  Gospel.  His 
aid  and  valuable  counsel  were  also  freely  given  in  making  the  necessary  ar- 
rangements for  the  residence  in  Anderson  of  both  Benjamin  Franklin  and 
his  son.  Although  the  crooked  course  of  human  events  has  since  produced 
a  partial  estrangement,  his  kindness  was  never  forgotten  by  either. 


424  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

the  city,  and  a  removal  to  the  country  was  decided  upon. 
Influenced  by  the  consideration  of  having  their  married 
children  as  near  to  them  as  possible,  Anderson  was  se- 
lected as  their  future  home,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1864, 
they  removed  to  that  place.  The  business  of  the  Review 
office  was  not  in  any  way  affected  by  this  change ;  for  all 
the  office  work  was,  and  had  been  for  several  years,  under 
the  supervision  of  Mr.  Rice. 

A  residence  in  the  town  of  Anderson*  was  purchased  ill 
which  the  family  resided  for  several  years.  In  a  short 
time  a  small  farm,  nearly  a  mile  from  the  town,  was  ad- 
ded to  his  possessions.  He  afterward  sold  his  town  prop- 
erty and  removed  to  his  farm.  Ninety  acres  of  this  farm 
was  the  only  property  owned  by  him  at  his  death.  An 
amount  about  equal  to  the  value  of  this  farm  had  been 
distributed  among  his  children. 

The  idea  of  publishing  a  volume  of  sermons  was  con- 
ceived as  a  means  of  helping  the  Review  out  of  the  depres- 
sion brought  upon  it  by  the  Civil  War.  The  work  was 
completed  within  two  years  from  the  time  it  was  begun, 
and  the  " Gospel  Preacher"  was  advertised  as  on  sale  in 
the  Review  office.  This  book  contained  twenty  sermons, 
and  comprised  the  best  of  the  discourses  preached  by 
Benjamin  Franklin  in  his  protracted  meetings.  The  gen- 
eral drift  of  the  series  was  for  the  enlightenment  of  sin- 
ners, and  to  show  the  errors  of  clenominationalism.     The 


*  Anderson  was  the  name  of  an  Indian  village  on  the  south  bank  of  White 
River,  thirty-six  miles  north-east  of  Indianapolis.  It  was  ruled  by  a  Delaware 
chief  named  Anderson,  and  from  whom  it  took  its  name.  A  settlement  of 
white  people  was  made  in  1820,  and  Andersontown  was  incorporated  in  1838. 
Ten  years  later,  by  Legislative  enactment,  the  name  was  contracted  to  An- 
derson. At  the  time  of  Mr.  Franklin's  removal  to  the  place  there  were  about 
two  thousand  inhabitants.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  city  in  1865.  The  popu- 
lation is  now  (1879)  between  five  and  six  thousand, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  425 

desire  of  the  thousands  who  had  been  edified  and  enter- 
tained by  these  sermons,  to  have  them  in  a  more  perma- 
nent form,  made  a  great  demand  for  them  and  the  book 
had  an  immense  sale.  It  has  indeed,  been  a  constant 
source  of  revenue  to  the  Review  office  since  its  first  ap- 
pearance. 

There  are  very  few  preachers  who  would  undertake  to 
produce  such  a  work  in  two  years,  and  keep  up,  at  the 
same  time,  regular  engagements  in  preaching.  But  the 
author  was  constantly  engaged  in  protracted  meetings,  and 
abated  naught  of  his  editorial  work  during  the  writing  of 
these  sermons. 

Such  tremendous  energy  will  soon  wear  out  any  human 
being.  From  the  time  of  the  completion  of  this  book  Mr. 
Franklin  showed  increasing  symptoms  of  the  diseases  in- 
cident to  a  man  who  has  been  over-worked. 

The  era  of  prosperity  that  followed  after  the  close  of  the 
War  had  been  such  a  relief,  that  Mr.  Franklin  rallied,  ap- 
parently as  strong  as  ever,  but  not  really  so.  He  seemed 
capable  of  as  much  work  as  ever  when  he  felt  well,  but 
was  suscepiible  of  more  frequent  and  violent  attacks  of 
disease  than  he  had  previously  been.  This  was  especially 
the  case  with  him  after  he  had  written  the  first  volume  of 
sermons.  A  severe  attack  of  pneumonia  disabled  him  so 
that  he  was  compelled  to  leave  off  preaching  for  some  six 
months.  It  was  thought  then  that  his  labors  as  a  preacher 
were  ended.  But  the  tremendous  constitution  with  which 
nature  had  blessed  him  made  one  more  effort  to  rail}'.  He 
thought  he  was  better,  that  he  would  soon  be  well  as  ever, 
and  ventured  out  again.  For  some  }7ears  he  continued  to 
go,  but  was  distressed  by  a  constant  cough  and  expectora- 
tion, that  was  gradually  consuming  the  remainder  of  his 
life-forces. 


426  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP 

When  the  panic  of  1873  fell  upon  the  country,  and  finan- 
cial distress,  scarcely  less  severe  than  that  of  the  first  two 
years  of  the  War,  prevailed,  the  circulation  of  the  Review 
was  again  threatened,  and  did,  indeed,  fall  off  considera- 
bly. Mr.  Franklin  was  again  troubled  by  his  surroundings. 
The  dissensions  among  the  Disciples  operated  very  unfa- 
vorably upon  his  mind.  He  began  to  fear  that  the 
churches  would  be  entirely  carried  away  by  innovations 
upon  the  purity  of  the  worship.  Hundreds  of  public  men 
were  alarmed  in  the  same  way  by  the  threatening  aspect 
of  affairs,  and  in  their  anxiety  turned  to  him  and  to  his 
Review  as  the  only  influence  that  could  possibly  stay  the 
tide  of  innovation. 

He  had  so  far  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  intimate 
friends,  and  especially  of  his  family,  as  to  relieve  himself 
of  financial  responsibility  by  selling  his  interest  in  the 
Review.  But  this  did  not  bring  so  much  relief  as  his 
family  hoped  for.  His  failing  health  rendered  it  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  comply  with  all  the  terms  of  his  contract, 
and  his  income  was  very  much  reduced.  This  interfered 
with  some  plans  he  had  formed  for  assisting  his  children, 
and  was  a  source  of  additional  anxiety  to  his  mind.  From 
abroad  there  came  a  steady  stream  of  correspondence, 
complaining  of  the  inroads  made  by  the  "progressives/' 
and  appealing  to  him  to  "cry  aloud  and  spare  not."  The 
"  Old. Reliable,"  as  they  fondly  called  the  Review,  was  to 
them  the  only  hope  of  the  advocates  of  "the  ancient  or- 
der" and  of  the  pure  worship. 

Twice  in  his  life  did  Benjamin  Franklin  demonstrate 
that  he  was  not  actuated  by  the  hope  of  financial  gain. 
When  he  refused  to  admit  the  discussion  of  the  slavery 
question  into  his  paper,  some  said  that  he  was  contriving 
how  to  save  his  southern  subscribers.    But  ere  that  ques- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  427 

tion  was  fully  upon  him  he  saw  clearly  that  he  would  lose 
more  in  the  north  than  he  would  save  in  the  south,  and 
predicted  that  the  periodicals  opposed  to  the  discussion 
would  gain  upon  the  Review — a  result  which  followed. 
Again,  when  the  discussion  turned  upon  instrumental 
music  in  the  worship,  and  other  similar  measures  for  mak- 
ing the  churches  places  of  popular  resort,  he  saw  clearly 
that  the  influences  of  social  life,  often  more  powerful  than 
the  gospel,  were  against  him,  and  that  he  was  on  the  un- 
popular and  unprofitable  side.  Sometimes  he  would  be 
hopeful  and  express  his  opinion  that  "progression"  was 
on  the  wane.  Then  he  would  receive  letters  from  preach- 
ers and  seniors  whom  he  had  long  known,  that  the  popu- 
lar crowd  had  gained  the  ascendancy  in  their  neighbor- 
hoods, and  that  they  had  been  elbowed  out  of  the  way  to 
make  room  for  an  organ  and  for  a  young  pastor  who  was 
in  favor  of  all  measures  that  would  popularize  the 
churches.  Such  news  became  more  frequent,  until  his 
heart  sank  within  him,  and  he  came  to  fear  that  the  new 
measures  would  generally  prevail,  and  that  the  Review 
and  its  friends  would  be  overpowered.  But  he  always 
said,  "whether  popular  or  unpopular,  when  a  thing  is 
right,  it  must  be  adhered  to,"  and  therefore  he  went  on, 
turning  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left  from  the  con- 
victions  in  which  his  mind  had  been  fixed. 

He  saw,  without  a  shade  of  doubt  as  to  the  truth  ot 
his  conclusions,  or  a  thought  of  abandoning  them,  the  men 
opposed  to  him  occupying  the  best  places,  and  the  oppo- 
sition periodicals  becoming  permanently  established. 
Indeed,  he  finally  seized  upon  these  circumstances  as 
additional  evidences  that  he  was  right.  The  faith,  chas- 
tity, and  self-denial  required  by  the  Gospel  never  could 
be  popular,  and  the  pure  church  never  could  be  a  popular 
church. 


428  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

Still,  notwithstanding  the  strength  of  his  convictions, 
the  steady  progress  of  the  changes  in  the  churches  gave 
him  great  distress.  And  whenJie  saw  the  more  popular 
views  prevailing  in  his  own  congregation  at  home,  where 
the  entire  force  of  the  public  instruction  and  exhortation 
had  always  been  against  them,  he  was  ready  to  despair. 
Two  or  three  suppers  to  raise  money  for  the  church  were 
given  at  private  houses.  The  Sunday-school  was  impa- 
tient of  the  oversight  of  the  Church,  and,  claiming  the 
right  to  organize  and  run  itself,  many  of  the  young  peo- 
ple were  clamoring  for  an  organ,  at  least  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  some  good  singers  refused  to  sing  because 
there  was  no  organ.  These  circumstances  undoubtedly 
weighed  heavily  upon  his  mind,  and  favored  the  progress 
of  the  diseases  under  which  he  was  rapidly  sinking. 

It  was  not  widely  known  that  he  was  so  nearly  ex- 
hausted, else,  surely  his  friends  might  have  spared  him 
in  some  degree.  When  his  vocal  organs  had  failed  so  far 
that  he  could  speak  but  little,  he  seemed  to  concentrate 
all  the  remainder  of  his  nervous  force  upon  his  editorials. 
His  writings  did  not,  therefore,  indicate,  to  those  who  only 
judged  him  by  these,  how  nearly  he  stood  upon  the  verge 
of  the  tomb.  He  was  urgently  entreated  by  those  nearest 
to  him  to  abandon  his  editorial  work  as  early  as  1876. 
He  was,  at  times,  almost  persuaded  to  do  so.  But  the 
force  of  long-established  habits,  and  the  appeals  from 
abroad  to  hold  on  to  the  Review,  prevailed. 

His  contract  with  the  publishers,  after  he  sold  out  the 
Review,  called  not  only  for  editorial  work,  but  claimed 
for  them  the  ownership  of  such  books  as  he  might  write. 
Under  this  contract  he  produced  the  "  Gospel  Preacher, 
Vol.  II,"  and  tried  to  write  a  Commentary.  An  Auto- 
Biogrnphy  was  talked  of,  but  he  never  had  the  strength 
to  undertake  this  task. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  429 

"The  Gospel  Preacher,  Vol.  11,"  contained  twenty-one 
sermons.  These  discourses  were  intended  to  comprehend 
the  chief  matters  involved  in  the  edification  of  the  Disci- 
ples. They  treated  especially  of  the  things  involved  in  the 
discussion  on  "progress/'  If  the  labor  of  writing  the  for- 
mer volume  was  an  indiscretion  in  a  man  having  already  so 
much  work  in  hand,  the  latter  undertaken  when  he  had  as 
much  on  hand  as  ever,  and  when  his  body  was  racked  by 
disease,  may  be  regarded  as  "a  sin  against  nature. "  He 
was  admonished  and  entreated  not  to  undertake  it.  But 
he  said  he  wanted  to  preach  after  he  was  dead.  And  so 
he  does.  "By  it,  he,  being  dead,  yet  speaketh."  When 
he  came  to  realize  the  effect  upon  himself,  he  took  comfort 
in  the  good  the  book  would  accomplish. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1876,  Mr.  Franklin  was 
preaching  at  the  White  Oak  Pond  Church,  near  Rich- 
mond, Kentucky.  For  a  week  he  kept  on,  with  constant- 
ly failing  strength,  but  increasing  interest  in  the  meeting. 
He  ventured  to  deliver  one  discourse  after  he  knew  that 
he  was  in  danger  of  serious  sickness.  This  was  on  Satur- 
day night.  Sunday  he  was  not  able  to  go  to  the  meeting. 
Monday  evening  he  went  with  Newland  Jones  to  Rich- 
mond, and  stopped  at  the  residence  of  J.  P.  Simmons, 
intending  after  resting  a  day  or  two  to  take  the  train  for 
home.  But  he  was  in  a  worse  condition  than  he  sup- 
posed, as  the  following  extract  from  his  editorial  account 
of  the  trip  will  showT : 

"Instead  of  starting  for  home,  we  were  attacked  by 
pneumonia,  aud  confined  for  three  weeks.  Here  Bro. 
Simmons  and  his  noble  wife  cared  for  us  with  all  the  pa- 
tience and  endurance  possiblef  We  could  not  have  been 
cared  for  more  tenderly.  Truly,  we  are  under  lasting 
obligations  to  these  kind  friends.     Besides  these,  we  are 


430  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

under  many  obligations  to  Brethren  William  Crutcher, 
Silas  Greene,  S.  Parks,  Louis  Francis,  White,  and  others 
who  staid  with  us  and  cared  for  us  of  nights. 

"  We  had  also  the  attention  of  Dr.  B.  F.  Hart,  a  skillful 
and  well-qualified  physician,  who  certainly  comprehended 
the  case  well,  and  did  a  noble  part  for  us.  The  attentions 
of  brethren  were  such,  that  owing  to  our  prostration  of 
nerves,  many  were  not  permitted  to  see  us.  Through 
these  kind  ministrations,  and  the  continual  care  of  our 
blessed  Father,  we  have  been  brought  safely  through,  and 
on  Monday  after  the  second  Sunday  in  November  (13)  we 
made  our  way  home,  and  now  find  ourself  in  an  encour- 
aging condition,  and  at  our  desk.  Through  one  more 
trial  we  have  thus  safely  been  brought  on  our  way,  and 
we  have  reason  to  join  with  Job  in  exclaiming  :  *  Blessed 
be  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  " 

Although  in  such  a  really  dangerous  condition,  he  sus- 
tained himself  by  sheer  force  of  will,  and  almost  daily, 
with  his  own  hand,  penned  a  postal-card  to  his  family. 
He  was  watched  day  and  night  by  sympathizing  friends, 
who  understood  his  condition  better  than  he  did  himself. 
Fearful  of  alarming  his  family,  he  allowed  no  communica- 
tion sent  to  them  except  those  written  by  himself.  They 
were  therefore  unadvised  of  his  situation  until  the  danger 
was  over,  and,  although  several  times  on  the  point  of 
sending  some  messenger  after  .him,  deferred  it  from  day 
to  day,  until  finally  he  recovered  sufficiently  to  return 
home  alone. 

But  he  had  finished  his  work  as  a  preacher,  and  had  be- 
fore him  two  years  of  lingering  between  life  and  death. 
He  was  very  feeble  all  winter.  It  was  only  on  the  mild- 
est days  that  he  would  venture  out  to  attend  even  the 
morning  meetings  at  home.      In  February  he  began  to 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   ERANKLIN.  431 

fail,  and  grew  so  feeble  that  for  several  weeks  lie  never 
went  abroad.  For  over  a  month  he  was  unable  to  write. 
The  family  and  his  physician  gave  him  up,  and  concluded 
that  he  had  but  few  days  longer  to  remain  on  earth.  He 
fell  into  a  languor,  and  seemed  to  be  waiting  for  the  ex- 
pected final  summons ;  but  as  settled  weather  came  on  he 
rallied  enough  to  continue  to  write,  and  in  some  measure 
to  enjoy  life. 

The  nature  of  the  diseases,  which  had  now  taken  fatal 
hold  upon  his  vitals,  puzzled  physicians  who  saw  him  but 
occasionally.  He  was  for  some  years  persuaded  that  he 
had  asthma;  later  he  called  it  "  catarrh  of  the  head  and 
lungs,"  and  finally  it  was  supposed  he  had  "  heart  dis- 
ease.' '  His  family  physician,  who  had  watched  the  pro- 
gress of  his  diseases  for  several  years,  recognized  the  fact 
that  his  throat,  heart,  lungs  and  stomach  were  all  affected. 
His  position  while  writing  was  unfavorable  to  all  these 
organs.  He  stooped  in  the  shoulders,  and  thus  cramped 
all  the  vital  organs.  For  several  years  he  almost  invaria- 
bly spent  the  entire  forenoon  in  writing.  He  would  go 
immediately  from  the  breakfast-table  to  the  writing-table 
and  sit  in  the  cramped  attitude  described  until  noon. 
Imperfect  digestion  was  necessarily  the  result,  and  as  ear- 
ly as  1860  he  showed  some  symptoms  of  dyspepsia.  To- 
ward the  end  of  his  life  it  was  observed  that  when  he  ate 
moderately  of  food  easily  digested  he  was  comfortable ; 
but  the  least  over-eating,  or  eating  of  food  not  suited  to 
his  condition,  gave  him  distress  in  the  stomach,  and  im- 
mediately the  heart,  stomach,  lungs,  throat  and  nasal 
passages  were  excited.  The  conclusion  seems  inevitable 
that,  of  all  his  complication  of  diseases,  dyspepsia  was 
the  basis.  When  the  final  breaking-down  came,  it  seemed 
that  the  heart-forces  had  been  all  completely  exhausted. 


432  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

In  his  last  hours  he  complained  only  of  distress  in  the 
region  of  the  heart,  and  the  word  went  abroad  that  he 
died  of  heart-disease. 

As  his  real  condition  while  sick  at  Richmond,  Ky.,  was 
not  made  known  to  his  family,  so  the  winter  following, 
the  readers  of  the  Review  were  not  informed  that  its  edi- 
tor was  liable  to  fall  at  any  hour.  He  could  not  be  idle, 
nor  could  he  for  some  months  admit  that  he  was  disabled. 
By  all  parties  interested  he  was  advised  and  entreated  to 
abandon  any  attempt  to  preach.  In  November  he-alluded 
to  this  advice  and  said  : 

"  This  advice  we  have  resolved  to  take,  so  far  as  the 
present  winter  is  concerned.  But  we  were  not  made  to  be 
idle.  We  intend  keeping  an  eye  on  the  Review,  and 
making  it  tell  every  week.  We  have  ■  gone  into  winter 
quarters,'  but  not  to  slumber." 

When  the  report  of  his  serious  illness  had  gone  abroad, 
he  wrote : 

"  We  have  not,  until  this  issue,  mentioned  our  sick- 
ness in  the  Review.  But  the  Apostolic  Times  gave  a 
kind  notice  of  it,  and,  a  week  later,  a  further  notice  that 
we  were  *  much  better,'  and  the  word  spread.  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson had  recently  died,  and  then  Bro.  Gains,  from 
among  our  old  men,  and  much  anxiety  was  manifested  by 
our  friends  in  all  directions.  We  are  truly  thankful  to 
know  that  we  have  such  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  true 
Israel  of  God.  Paul  said  the  Lord  had  mercy  on  him  in 
sparing  a  sick  brother.  Our  most  gracious  and  merciful 
Father  has  heard  the  prayers  of  the  thousands  who  have 
called  on  him  in  our  behalf,  not  simply  for  our  sake,  or 
the  love  they  have  for  us;  but  for  his  sake  who  died  for 
us,  and  for  his  cause,  in  which  we  serve  him  in  the  Gos- 
pel of  his  dear  Sou. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  433 

"  In  our  illness  we  tried  to  be  composed,- and  resigned 
to  the  Divine  Will.  We  were  ready,  if  bis  call  was  to 
live  or  to  die,  as  we  think  those  with  us  will  testify.  We 
have  accepted  it  all  at  his  hand  as  wise,  benevolent  and 
good.  We  have  waited  for  him  to  work  out  his  gracious 
purpose.  He  has  been  pleased  to  rise  up  and  restore  us 
to  our  home  once  more.  We  take  it  that  he  has  some- 
thing more  yet  for  us  to  suffer  and  to  do.  So  far  as  we 
can  see  we  are  now  as  likely  to  be  able  for  service  as  we 
have  been  any  time  in  the  eight  years  past;  and  our  af- 
fliction has  only  deepened  every  impression  we  had  of 
the  importance  of  the  work." 

The  partial  restoration  renewed  his  hope,  and  he  began 
to  talk  of  getting  well  again  and  going  out  to  preach.  All 
the  summer  and  autumn  of  1877  he  remained  at  home, 
still  hoping  to  be  well  enough  to  go  abroad  soon.  His 
hope  was  so  strong  that  he  kept  up  regular  appointments, 
arranging  that  his  son  should  go  with  him  to  care  for  him 
if  he  should  fall  sick,  and  to  perform  the  principal  part 
of  the  labor  of  preaching.  Three  months  in  Canada,  and 
three  months  in  Kentucky,  the  son  went  alone  to  preach 
to  sadly  disappointed  congregations.  The  last  of  these 
appointments  was  in  Cloverdale,  Indiana.  This  was  near 
home,  and  he  felt  so  well  that  he  went  to  this  meeting  and 
ventured  to  talk  a  little  at  the  conclusion  of  each  assemb- 
ling. Thence  he  rehired  home  and  "  went  into  winter 
quarters  again."  In  March,  1878,  he  went  to  Newcastle, 
Indiana,  but  only  preached  on  Sunday.  In  the  latter 
part  of  April  he  went  to  Shoals,  Martin  county,  Indiana, 
where  he  staid  over  three  Sundays.  Thence  he  went  to 
Bloomington,  where  he  staid  other  three  Sundays.  Dur- 
ing this  trip  he  preached  once  each  day.  In  June  he  went 
to  North  Middletown,  Kentucky,  to  deliver  an  address 


434  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

before  the  "  Kentucky  Classical  and  Business  College.*  " 
Four  weeks,  including  the  latter  part  of  July  and  first  of 
August,  he  was  at  Middletown,  Jefferson  County,  and 
with  the  Floyd  and  Chestnut  Street  Church,  Louisville, 
Kentucky.  Of  his  last  tour  abroad,  we  have  no  record, 
and  memory  recalls  only  the  fact  that  it  was  to  some  point, 
in  Ohio,  and  that  on  his  return  he  was  compelled  to  ride 
several  miles  in  a  buggy  through  a  cold  and  drizzling  rain. 
On  his  arrival  home  it  was  only  by  the  utmost  care  that 
he  was  saved  from  another  attack  of  pneumonia.  A  con- 
finement of  nearly  three  weeks  had  nearly  persuaded  him 
to  abandon  any  idea  of  going  from  home  again  during  the 
fall  and  winter.  But  as  he  grew  a  little  better  again,  and 
the  weather  seemed  to  be  settled  and  pleasant,  he  ar- 
ranged to  visit  his  two  sons  at  Indianapolis  on  the  23d  of 
October,  and  to  go  from  there  to  Glenwood,  Rush  county, 
to  visit  his  daughter.  It  was  expected  that  while  in  Rush 
county  he  would  be  present  and  join  in  the  exercises  of 
a  general  meeting  at  Ben  Davis  Creek  Church. 

As  the  time  to  start  upon  this  visit  drew  near,  his  spir- 
its became  more  buoyant.  So  encouraging  were  the  symp- 
toms that  his  family  thought  he  was  really  improving. 
He  ate  regularly  and  slept  well,  and  his  writing  was  done 
with  great  ease.  In  the  morning  of  the  22d  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1878,  he  took  a  long  walk  upon  his  farm.  Returning 
about  nine  o'clock  he  said  to  his  wife:  "Mother,  I  feel 
very  much  better  to-day,  and  I  hope  I  shall  yet  get  well." 
He  then  seated  himself  at  the  table  and  wrote  some  two 
or  three  hours.  When  called  to  dinner,  he  ate  heartily, 
and  still  talked  of  how  well  he  felt.     After  dinner  he  lay 


*  While  at  North  Middletown,  some  persons  enumerated  two  hundred  and 
thirty  additions  at  five  protracted  meetings,  held  by  Mr.  Franklin  at  that 
place. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  435 

down  for  his  customary  sleep.  He  slept  somewhat  longer 
than  usual  and  attracted  attention  by  his  labored  breath- 
ing. At  two  o'clock  he  awakened  and  sat  up  in  a  chair, 
but  seemed  very  dull,  as  if  he  were  hardly  awake.  After 
a  time  he  began  to  show  symptoms  of  distress,  and  com- 
plained of  heaviness,  "as  if  a  fifty-pound  weight  lay  on 
his  heart."  His  wife  was  the  only  other  person  in  the 
room  at  this  time.  She  soon  saw  that  something  very  un- 
usual was  the  matter,  and  called  their  daughter  from 
another  part  of  the  house.  When  she  came  to  him  he  was 
gasping  for  breath.  She  made  an  attempt  to  rub  his  side 
with  a  view  to  restoring  the  circulation,  but  he  said: 
"Don't  trouble  me ;  my  time  has  come."  She  now  be- 
came seriously  alarmed  and  summoning  her  husband,*  a 
messenger  was  dispatched  to  call  a  physician  and  to  notify 
the  other  members  of  the  family  resident  in  Anderson. 
The  physician  came  within  an  hour,  but  Mr.  Franklin 
was  too  far  gone  to  swallow,  and  nothing  could  be  done 
for  him. 

His  last  words  were  spoken  to  his  wife:  "Mother,  I 
am  sorry  to  have  to  leave  you."  Leaning  back  in  the 
arm  chair  in  which  he  had  been  sitting  from  the  time  when 
he  arose  after  his  sleep,  and  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the 
companion  who  had  shared  all  his  joys  and  his  sorrows  for 
forty-five  years,  his  breathing  grew  shorter  and  shorter, 
until  it  could  not  be  observed  that  he  breathed  at  all. 

About  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  October  22d,  1878, 
it  became  evident  to  the  loving  eyes  fixed  upon  him,  but 
nearly  blinded  by  their  tears,  that  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  dead. 


*  Mr.  Franklin  and  his  wife  were  boarding  at  this  time  with  their  daughter, 
Martha,  and  her  husband,  Mr.  James  M.  Plummer. 


436  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN. 

"Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  from  hence- 
forth :  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  for  they  shall  rest  from  their 
labors  ;  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 

The  telegraph  carried  the  news  to  the  morning  papers 
of  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  and 
summoned  his  children  to  the  burial.  All  his  children 
were  present  and  all  their  companions  save  one.  His 
brothers,  Daniel  and  David  Franklin,  were  present.  The 
day  following  his  death,  after  brief  religious  devotions  at 
the  residence,  conducted  by  W.  W.  Witmer,  who  was 
preaching  for  the  Church  in  Anderson,  his  body  was  laid 
away  in  the  Anderson  cemetery  to  await  the  resurrection 
of  the  just. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

^ijREACHING  the  Gospel  is  pre-eminently  the  grandest 
I  and  noblest  calling  on  earth.  It  is  presumed  that 
the  man  who  preaches  the  Gospel  is,  in  fact,  himself 
a  man  of  God ;  that  he  believes  and  practices  what  he 
preaches ;  that  he  is,  in  life  and  character,  a  living  illus- 
tration and  exemplification  of  the  fullness,  richness  and 
blessedness  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

The  subject  of  these  lines  practiced  what  he  preached. 
He  was  not  simply  a  Christian  in  theory,  but  also  in  prac- 
tice. A  correct  theory,  united  to  a  perfect  practice,  makes 
perfect.  No  man  is  absolutely  perfect,  either  in  theory 
or  practice.  «*  To  err  is  human."  But  it  will  not  be 
doubted  by  those  who  knew  the  distinguished  preacher  of 
whom  we  write,  that  he  was  as  nearly  perfect,  both  in 
theory  and  practice,  as  it  is  possible  for  a  mortal  man  to 
be.  His  e very-day  piety,  constant  humility  and  devotion 
— his  long  and  eventful  life  of  toil  and  sacrifice,  attest  the 
fact  that  he  believed,  from  the  profoundest  depths  of  his 
soul,  the  Heavenly  message  he  proclaimed. 

Character  has  much  to  do  with  the  power  and  useful- 
ness of  any  public  man.  A  preacher  without  Christian 
character  is  shorn  of  half  his  power  before  he  enters  the 
public  stand.  A  bad  man  may  speak  the  truth,  but  as  the 
fountain  from  whence  it  proceeds  is  corrupt,  the  stream 
also  will  be  adjudged  corrupt.  "  Murder  will  out,"  and 
no  man  can  hide  the  deceit  of  his  own  heart. 

The  character  of  Benj.  Franklin  had  much  to  do  with 
his  usefulness  in  life.     He  showed  his  faith  by  his  works. 


438  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

An  ungodly  life  is  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  profes- 
sion, and  is,  in  eveiy  respect,  ruinous  to  the  prospects  and 
success  of  a  Christian  minister.  The  scholarship,  elo- 
quence and  fluency  of  a  preacher  will  be  but  poorly  appre- 
ciated when  it  is  known  that  his  character  is  bad.  No 
preacher  can  exhibit  that  earnestness  and  power  of  heart 
necessary  to  move  the  people  in  the  direction  of  holiness 
and  piety,  who  is  not  truly  and  deeply  devoted  to  the 
pure  and  undefiled  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  Honor, 
truth,  love,  meekness  and  simplicity,  unite  in  the  charac- 
ter we  are  attempting  to  portray.  The  power  of  these 
heavenly  virtues  shone  like  the  brilliancy  of  the  noon- 
day sun  in  both  his  private  and  public  life.  He  trans- 
ferred his  faith  to  others  by  the  impress  of  his  own  mind 
and  heart.  He  believed,  and  therefore  spoke.  "  Like 
begets  like."  His  faith  was  an  inspiration  wherever  he 
was  known,  and  his  name  a  synonym  for  fidelity  and 
truthfulness.  -  The  people  heard  him  with  profound  in- 
terest, because  they  believed  him  to  be  an  honest  man; 
and  just  what  he  seemed  to  be. 

One  great  source  of  his  wonderful  power  was  his  self- 
consciousness  of  the  purity  of  his  purpose  and  rectitude 
of  his  conduct. 

The  loudest  and  most  effective  preaching  is  in  the  life 
and  conduct  of  the  preacher.  In  this  way  the  humblest 
disciple  of  Jesus  may  preach  most  eloquently  and  power- 
fully. 

The  Christian  character  of  Benj.  Franklin  was  without 
a  blemish,  and  was  unimpeachable.  Not  one  of  his  many 
opposers  ever  assailed  his  good  name.  They  did  often 
object  to  his  principles,  but  never  argued  that  he  should 
not  be  heard  because  he  was  a  bad  man.  His  character 
was  simply  invulnerable,  and  was  in  itself  a  strong  bul- 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  439 

wark  of  defense.  If  the  reader  desires  to  know  one  of 
the  secrets  of  his  wonderful  success  as  a  preacher,  he  will 
find  it  in  the  purity  of  his  life  and  character. 

The  personal  appearance  of  a  preacher  has  much  to  do 
with  his  success  and  usefulness.  It  has  even  been  said 
by  men  of  sense  that  there  is  a  sort  of  magnetism  in  the 
person  and  presence  of  some  men.  Whether  this  influ- 
ence is  of  the  soul  or  the  bod)',  or  of  both,  is  a  question 
for  the  philosopher.  The  animal  nature  may  be  greatly 
excited  through  mental  processes.  Those  men  who  are 
supposed  to  possess  a  great  degree  of  animal  magnetism, 
as  a  rule,  are  men  of  great  mental  power.  Such  men  are 
not  always  highly  educated,  but  are  always  men  of  some 
remarkable  mental  traits  and  endowments.  A  fool  has 
never  been  known  to  exhibit  much  animal  magnetism  or 
any  other  kind  of  controlling  influence  over  a  promiscuous 
audience.  The  body  is  but  the  implement  of  the  soul  ; 
the  medium  of  its  communication  with  the  outer  world. 
The  body  with  its  various  functions  is  the  exponent  of 
the  spirit  within. 

Great  men,  as  a  rule,  possess  strong  and  powerful 
physical  functions.  "A  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body" 
is  an  accepted  proverb.  No  man  can  be  a  great  success 
as  a  preacher  who  possesses  a  weak  and  diseased  body. 
Such  a  man  is  not  able  to  perform  either  the  mental  or 
the  physical  labor  required  of  a  preacher.  He  will  often 
exhibit  both  mental  and  physical  weakness,  and  many  of 
his  efforts  will  prove  failures. 

That  preacher  is  truly  blessed  who  possesses  strong 
mental  traits  and  powers,  incased  in  a  vigorous  and 
soundly  developed  body.  That  man  is  to  be  pitied  who 
possesses  a  brilliant  mind  with  no  other  support  than  a 
weak  and  diseased  body. 


440  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF 

The  subject  of  these  remarks  was  greatly  blessed  in 
the  possession  of  a  strong,  well-rounded  and  perfectly 
developed  physical  system.  The  immense  labor  he  per- 
formed, both  mental  and  physical,  during  a  period  of  fifty 
years,  is  the  proof  of  this  statement.  In  personal  ap- 
pearance he  was  commanding  and  agreeable — Six  feet 
(nearly)  in  height,  with  a  frame  well-rounded  and  pro- 
portioned, erect  and  stately.  His  face  was  large  and  his 
features  bold.  The  expression  of  his  countenance  was 
often  pleasing  and  never  repulsive.  During  his  best  and 
most  happy  efforts  his  face  would  glow  with  smiles  and 
expressions  of  pleasure. 

His  eye  (a  mild  blue)  though  not  large,  was  full  of 
expression  and  power.  He  stood  erect  and  dignified  be- 
fore his  audience,  and  gazed  upon  them  with  such  an 
expression  of  countenance  as  indicated  the  profound 
interest  he  felt  for  the  souls  of  men.  He  frequently 
moved  with  natural  grace  and  ease  from  one  side  of  the 
rostrum  to  the  other,  speaking  in  the  meantime  in  a 
manner  to  be  perfectly  understood.  There  is  wonderful 
power  to  please  and  to  charm  in  "  the  human  form  di- 
vine." Very  many  preachers  confine  their  bodies  to  a 
very  small  space  behind  a  massive  pulpit  arrangement, 
and  thus  lose  the  power  and  influence  the  body  would 
exert  if  its  shackles  were  taken  off.  Too  frequent  and 
unnatural  movements  should  be  scrupulously  avoided,  but 
natural,  graceful,  and  easy  movements  should  be  culti- 
vated, as  they  express  the  earnestness  and  pathos  of  the 
soul. 

Benjamin  Franklin  possessed  wonderful  power  over  an 
audience,  as  indicated  by  the  vast  numbers  that  flocked 
to  hear  him  ;  hence  it  is  well  to  consider  the  sources  of 
his  power.     When   in   his   prime,  his  grand   and  stately 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  441 

body  swayed  to  and  fro  as  if  keeping  time  to  the  music 
of  his  heavenly  and  God-given  utterances,  fixing  the  at- 
tention and  giving  emphasis  and  expression  to  the  soul- 
stirring  sentiments  of  a  heart  burdened  and  overflowing 
with  a  message  of  truth  and  love.  His  movements  often 
defied  the  established  rules  of  oratory  and  yet  were  pleas- 
ing and  illustrative  in  a  high  degree.  He  trained  himself 
in  his  own  school  of  oratory,  and  hence  was  his  own  mas- 
ter. He  was  one  of  nature's  orators,  and  those  of  any 
other  class  or  school  are  not  orators  at  all,  but  simply  imi- 
tators and  declaimers.  So  momentous  were  his  themes, 
and  so  skillful  and  masterly  was  his  treatment  of  them, 
that  the  hearers  looked  upon  his  bodily  movements  as  but 
incidental  expressions  of  sentiment  and  pathos.  They 
were  regarded  as  the  necessary  exponents  of  the  great 
truths  he  uttered. 

His  gestures  were  few  indeed.  He  had  one  particular 
gesticulation  which  consisted  in  the  uplifting  of  the  right 
hand  closed,  with  the  first  finger  projecting,  which  was 
brought  down  in  a  circle  to  the  front  of  the  body,  just  at 
the  instant  that  a  strong  and  powerful  argument  was  com- 
pleted. The  effect  was  often  wonderful,  and  would  re- 
mind one  of  the  heavy  stroke  of  a  hammer  in  the  clinch- 
ing of  a  nail,  though  perfectly  noiseless.  His  voice 
produced  the  sound  while  his  hand  made  the  stroke. 

His  voice  for  many  years  was  very  fine,  round  and  full. 
It  was  not  to  say  musical,  yet  iu  every  way  pleasant  to 
the  hearer.  The  body  of  his  sermons  was  delivered  in  a 
conversational  tone,  but  at  times  he  would  come  down 
with  an  emphasis  equal  to  that  of  a  thunder-bolt.  He 
would  at  times  appear  as  meek  as  a  lamb,  and  then  sud- 
denly, when  occasion  would  require,  would  exhibit  the 
prowess  and  power  of  the   lion,      His  voice  would  geu^ 


442  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

erally  ascend  and  descend  the  notes  of  the  scale,  and 
each  note  and  intonation  was  exactly  suited  to  the  senti- 
ment uttered.  He  evidently  spoke  with  great  ease  and 
comfort  to  himself,  and  was  a  perfect  master  of  his  vocal 
organs. 

His  manner  of  treating  a  subject  was  his  own,  and 
hence  was  peculiar  to  himself.  He  was  no  imitator,  but 
a  model  for  that  class  of  men.  He  chose  his  own  point 
or  points  of  destination,  mapped  out  his  own  course  and 
pursued  it  in  his  own  way.  He  never  attempted  the  dis- 
cussion of  a  subject  that  he  was  confident  he  did  not  un- 
derstand. His  notion  was  that  a  man  must  first  himself 
thoroughly  understand  a  subject  before  he  is  competent 
to  teach  others.  He  therefore  always  had  some  impor- 
tant matter  well  matured  in  his  own  mind  before  he  at- 
tempted to  speak.  His  object  was  to  understand  matters 
correctly  and  to  get  others  to  understand  them  as  he  did. 
He  was  accustomed  to  say  that  "  if  two  or  more  persons 
understand  any  matter  right,  they  all  have  the  same  un- 
derstanding of  it."  He  always  had  a  point  before  him, 
some  important  matter  to  be  settled,  and  hence  did  not 
speak  at  random.  He  confined  himself  strictly  to  the  sub- 
ject under  discussion,  and  scrupulously  avoided  any  de- 
partures from  the  matter  in  hand.  His  sermons  were 
not  made  up  of  a  single  continuous  thread  drawn  out  in- 
definitely— but  were  made  up  of  distinct  and  separate 
parts  fitly  jointed  together.  He  would  make  an  argument 
and  establish  a  given  point,  and  then  proceed  to  the  next 
in  order,  and  so  on,  until  his  sermon  was  completed.  His 
sermons  were,  therefore,  made  up  of  a  succession  of  log- 
ical points,  logically  arranged,  making  up  a  strong  chain 
of  connections  not  easily  broken.  He  was  remarkably 
successful  in  making  himself  understood,     He  could  dis- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    ERANltLIN.  443 

cuss  the  most  profound  and  intricate  matters  in  the  use  of 
the  simplest  terms,  as  if  in  the  language  of  a  child.  On 
account  of  his  great  simplicity  of  speech  and  manner, 
some  persons  who  had  not  been  properly  educated 
thought  that  he  was  without  learning,  never  having  learn- 
ed the  important  lesson  that  it  requires  the  greatest  mind 
to  reduce  a  matter  of  difficulty  to  simplicity,  and  to  set 
it  forth  in  simple  forms  of  speech.  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  master  of  the  art  of  simplicity  as  a  preacher.  There 
is  wonderful  power  in  simplicity,  and  this  power  he  con- 
trolled with  a  master  hand.  Little  children  and  uneducat- 
ed people  would  sit  at  his  feet  when  he  was  discussing 
great  subjects,  and  understand  every  word  that  he  utter- 
ed. This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  he  became  the  great 
commoner  among  the  disciples.  He  was  the  chosen  rep- 
resentative of  the  masses.  They  clamored  for  him. 
They  could  understand  him  and  he  understood  them — 
their  feelings  and  their  wants.  Thev  had  all  confidence 
in  him  as  their  man,  their  chosen  representative.  He 
plead  in  his  preaching  the  cause  of  the  common  people. 
He  was  in  sympathy  with  them  and  was  the  especial 
friend  and  advocate  of  the  poor  and  oppressed.  His  ap- 
peals were  to  the  good  sense  of  the  people,  to  their  con- 
victions of  justice  and  truth.  lie  had  implicit  confidence 
in  the  judgment  of  the  people  when  fairly  made  up. 

He  believed  that  the  great  body  of  the  people  were 
honest,  and  that  they  would  accept  the  truth  when  fairly 
and  fully  presented.  He,  therefore,  during  his  entire 
ministerial  career,  labored  earnestly  and  faithfully  with 
the  common  people  to  convince  them  of  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus,  and  succeeded  in  turning  many  thousands  to  the 
Lord  of  hosts. 

His  manner  was  boldly  affirmative,  and  decidedly  nega- 


444  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES-  OF 

tive.  He  fearlessly  affirmed  what  he  believed  to  be  true 
(that  which  God  had  revealed  as  true),  and  never  failed 
to  give  the  reasons  for  his  belief;  but  at  the  same  time 
denied  error,  and  exposed  it  in  all  its  hideous  forms.  He 
was  very  successful  in  contrasting  truth  with  error. 

He  could  transform  himself  into  any  character  that 
he  might  select.  He  could  play  the  part  of  a  sectarian 
clergyman  to  perfection.  He  could  state  the  position  of 
the  sects  with  more  clearness  than  they  themselves  were 
accustomed  to  do.  He  could  argue  their  side  of  any 
question  as  satisfactorily  as  if  a  Bishop  had  performed  the 
task.  His  method  of  contrasting  truth  with  error  was 
colloquial.  He  would  argue  on  the  side  of  his  opponent 
until  he  had  his  case  fairly  presented,  and  then  he  would 
return  to  his  chosen  stand  on  the  Bible  and  the  Bible 
alone,  thus  making  the  most  telling  and  striking  con- 
trasts  between  truth  and  error.  His  colloquial  manner 
was  wonderfully  impressive.  His  logic  was  of  the  most 
natural  and  telling  character.  His  conclusions  were  so 
near  to  his  premises  that  no  confusion  could  pervade  the 
mind  of  the  hearer.  His  logic  was  like  that  of  a  child's 
— was  simply  axiomatic.  He  adopted  admitted  principles 
of  reasoning,  and  his  logic  was  that  of  common  sense. 
His  object  seemed  to  be  to  present  a  matter  so  as  to  strike 
the  common  sense  of  the  hearer  favorably ;  and  having 
thus  opened  the  way,  he  would  produce  divine  testimony 
in  proof  of  his  position. 

The  main  body  of  his  matter  was  Scripture.  All  else 
but  Scripture  that  entered  into  his  sermons  was  regarded 
by  him  as  incidental  and  illustrative.  He  was  perfectly 
familiar  with  the  Bible — with  both  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament. He  did  not  claim,  nor  can  any  man  claim,  to 
understand  every  part  of  the  Bible  perfectly.    He  claimed 


ELDER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  445 

to  understand  every  part  of  the  Divine  Kevelation  that 
involves  the  duty  and  responsibility  of  man  ;  and  that  all 
matters  of  duty  were  plainly  revealed — that  these  were 
the  matters  that  should  most  interest  his  hearers.  But 
few  men,  if  any,  understood  better  than  he  the  relation 
the  old  covenant  sustains  to  the  new,  and  could  explain 
as  satisfactorily  that  relation. 

He  accepted  the  Bible  as  a  divine  revelation  from  first 
to  last,  when  fairly  translated.  He  accepted  it  as  a  per- 
fectly harmonious  and  comprehensive  whole.  He  be- 
lieved the  Gospel  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 
He  believed  he  could  save  men  by  preaching  "  the  truth, 
the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth."  He  believed 
he  could  succeed  in  the  use  of  Heaven-ordained  means 
and  instrumentalities,  and  he  did  succeed.  His  faith  was 
strengthened  by  every  effort,  as  every  effort  was  a  success. 
Having  once  discovered  the  truth,  and  God's  plan  of  jus- 
tification, he  adopted  it  for  life.  He  adhered  at  all  times 
and  under  all  circumstances  to  the  Divine  plan — to  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  He  resorted  to  no  experiments  and 
wordly  devices  or  clap-trap  to  turn  men  to  God.  He 
turned  men  by  the  truth,  and  to  the  truth,  only.  His 
converts,  therefore,  as  a  rule  were  taught  of  God,  con- 
vinced of  the  truth,  and  hence  were  soundly  converted. 
The  Gospel  of  Christ  in  his  hands  proved  to  be  the  power 
of  God  unto  the  salvation  of  many  thousands  of  sin- 
benighted  souls. 

His  illustrations  were  drawn  from  real  life — were  facts, 
and  no  fiction.  He  did  not  scan  the  newspapers  to  find 
idle  stories  and  romances  with  which  to  illustrate  the  truth 
of  God  ;  but  he  gathered  from  his  own  experience  and  the 
actual  transactions  of  life  the  most  thrilling  scenes  and 
incidents,  with  which  he  illustrated  in  a  striking  manner 


446  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP 

the  great  principles  of  Divine  Revelation.  He  was  strictly 
a  matter-of-fact  man,  and  hence  required  facts  for  his 
illustrations,  as  well  as  for  the  body  of  his  discourses. 
Since  nature  and  human  life  are  so  replete  with  the  most 
interesting  and  soul-stirring  facts,  why  resort  to  fiction? 
The  natural  universe  is  but  a  striking  shadow  of  the  spir- 
itual. Jesus  Christ  drew  largely  upon  the  book  of  nature 
for  his  illustrations.  "I  am  the  vine;  you  are  the 
branches. "  "Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they 
grow ;  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin ;  and  yet 
I  say  unto  you,  that  even  Solomon,  in  all  his  glory,  was 
not  arniyed  like  one  of  these.  Wherefore  if  God  so  clothe 
the  grass  of  the  field  which  to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is 
cast  into  the  oven,  shall  he  not  much  more  clothe  you,  O 
ye  of  little  faith?"  The  great  preacher  of  whom  we 
write  opened  the  book  of  nature  and  drew  from  its  grand 
pages  many  apt  and  fitting  illustrations.  He  was  accus- 
tomed to  compare  sin  to  the  spontaneous  productions  of 
the  earth  (the  thorn  and  the  thistle),  which  need  no  cul- 
tivation, but  come  of  themselves ;  and  righteousness  to 
the  tender  plant  that  produces  the  much-desired  fruit,  but 
which  requires  the  most  attentive  watch-care  and  cultiva- 
tion. It  requires  no  effort  to  be  a  sinner  ;  but  to  be  righte- 
ous, requires  studious  effort  and  constant  attention.  With 
him  "life  was  real,  life  was  earnest."  Life  is  too  short 
to  be  squandered  in  dealing  with  fiction  and  dreams. 
There  is  enough  of  the  real  and  valuable  to  excite  our 
prof'oundest  interest,  and  to  engage  our  entire  attention. 
Benj.  Franklin  was  a  matter-of-fact  preacher,  and  allowed 
no  fiction  in  any  part  of  his  discourses.  His  motto  was, 
"  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,'  and  nothing  but  the  truth." 
The  effect  of  his  preaching  upon  the  public  mind  was 
the  wonder  of  many.     He  made  more  frequent  and  ex- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  447 

tended  tours  in  spreading  the  glad  news  than  any  preacher 
among  the  Disciples,  living  or  dead.  Not  only  has  his 
voice  been  heard  declaring  the  fullness  of  the  riches  of 
grace  in  Christ  in  nearly  all  the  States  of  this  Union,  but 
also  in  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick  and  Prince 
Edwards  Island.  In  all  of  these  States,  countries  and 
places — in  cities,  towns,  villages,  and  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts— vast  crowds  would  assemble  to  hear  his  masterly 
efforts  in  defence  of  the  Bible,  and  in  behalf  of  the  great 
religious  reformation  for  which  he  was  pleading.  Preach- 
ers of  the  various  sects  of  Christendom  would  sit  at  his 
feet  and  submit  to  the  most"  severe  criticisms  upon  their 
faith  and  teaching,  rather  than  be  deprived  of  the  privi- 
lege of  hearing  him.  They  would  admonish  their  mem- 
bers not  to  attend  his  meetings,  lest  their  religious  faith 
should  be  unsettled.  At  the  same  time,  they  would  often 
slyly  creep  into  some  secluded  corner  where  they  could 
hear  him.  The  temptation  to  hear  a  truly  great  man  was 
too  much  for  them. 

Lawyers,  Judges,  Doctors,  and  learned  College  Profes- 
sors improved  every  opportunity  to  hear  the  mighty  man 
of  God.  The  learned  and  the  unlearned,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  were  alike  interested  in  the  man,'awd  more  especially 
in  the  momentous  subjects  he  so  ably  discussed.  Every 
hearer  of  these  various  classes  regarded  himself  as  an  in- 
terested party,  and  seemed  to  give  the  same  attention  as 
though  he  wrre  the  only  one  addressed.  The  great  masses 
of  the  people,  from  the  lowest  depths  of  human  weakness, 
sin  and  degradation,  up  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  human 
understanding,  faith  and  spirituality,  were  moved  by  the 
grand  and  sublime  truths  which  he  uttered.  The  poor 
wayfarer,  though  foolish,  received  his  portion  of  spiritual 
food  in  due  time.     The  learned  lawyers  and  doctors  par- 


448  THE  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

took  of  the  same  and  with  equal  relish.  All  distinction 
of  classes  was  lost  for  the  time,  and  vast  crowds  would 
mingle  together  as  if  members  of  one  common  family. 
His  effort  was  to  unite  the  people  in  one  grand  and  glorious 
spiritual  compact ;  to  make  them  one  in  the  body  of  Christ, 
the  church  of  the  living  God.  He  was  successful  in  setting 
forth  the  ground  of  union  as  revealed  in  Jesus  the  Christ, 
and  his  holy  religion. 

Religious  discussion  of  important  topics  was  the  order 
of  the  clay  when  his  great  meetings  were  in  progress. 
Every  craft  and  creed  were  driven  to  the  defence  of  their 
creeds,  save  those  who  had  the  Bible  only  to  defend.  On 
such  occasions  the  latter  were  inspired  with  renewed  faith 
and  zeal  and  at  the  conclusion  of  every  meeting  were 
flushed  with  victory. 

The  effect  produced  was  solemn,  deep  and  profound. 
The  slumbering  faculties  of  the  mind  were  aroused  to 
greater  activity;  the  judgment  was  sharpened,  quickened 
and  put  on  duty ;  the  finest  feelings  and  emotions  of  the 
heart  were  brought  into  lively  exercise.  Infidels,  skeptics 
and  universalists,  and  the  unbelieving  world  generally, 
were  made  to  fear  the  impending  wrath  of  God.  Be- 
lievers were  strengthened  and  established  in  the  holy 
faith ;  were  the  more  deeply  rooted  and  grounded  in  the 
faith  as  it  is  in  Jesus  the  Christ.  Sinners,  with  throb- 
bing hearts  and  tear-bedewed  cheeks,  pressed  through  the 
dense  crowds  to  confess  their  well-grounded  faith  in  the 
Lord  of  life  and  glory.  Husbands,  wives  and  children, 
and  in  some  cases  entire  families,  would  embrace  the 
faith  and  each  other  at  the  same  time  ;  expressing  their 
unbounded  joy  and  gladness  by  sobs,  sighs  and  tears.  As 
a  meeting  would  progress,  the  interest  would  deepen  and 
expand  until  the  whole  community,  far  and  near,  had 


ELDER  BENJAM1K  FRANKLltf.  449 

their  minds  directed  to  the  solemn  consideration  of  the 
sublime  theme  of  salvation  from  sin,  death  and  the  grave 
through  Jesus  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  His 
preaching  had  the  effect  of  creating  a  thirst  for  truth  and 
righteousness.  Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
saintly  men  and  women  of  this  living  generation  will  at- 
test the  truth  of  these  statements  above  made,  for  they 
have  themselves  experienced  the  truth  of  them.  To  draw 
such  crowds  and  interest  them  so  profoundly,  not  by 
flippant  oratory  and  theatrical  clap-trap,  not  by  sensation- 
al preaching  and  the  relation  of  death-bed  scenes,  but  by 
the  presentation  of  Heaven's  truth  stripped  of  all  extane- 
ous  matter,  requires  in  this  evil  day,  when  the  hearts  of 
all  men  seem  to  be  set  on  the  world,  a  masterspirit.  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  was  equal  to  the  task,  and  proved,  beyond 
the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  the  Gospel,  pure  and  un- 
defiled,  is  sufficiently  attractive  to  command  the  attention 
even  of  this  wicked  and  perverse  generation.  Let  those 
weak  and  driveling  preachers  who  would  attract  the 
crowds  by  instrumental  and  musical  entertainments ;  t)y 
grand  and  stately  church  edifices  ;  by  Shakespearian  read- 
ings ;  by  theatrical  performances,  fairs,  festivals,  and 
many  other  worldly  enticements,  hide  their  faces  for  shame 
until  they  learn  to  properly  value  and  estimate  the  blessed 
Gospel  of  God,  which  is  by  far  more  beautiful  and  attrac- 
tive than  the   combined  allurements  of  a  wicked  world. 

If  Benjamin  Franklin  was  living  to-day,  the  people 
would  stand  in  groves  of  trees  or  assemble  in  barns  to 
hear  him,  if  necessary.  Such  is  the  power  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ, 

The  good  accomplished  must  be  the  measure  of  every 
preacher's  usefulness.  The  planting,  the  cultivating  and 
the  pruning  avail  nothing  unless  the  luscious  fruits  are 


450  THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

produced.       There  may  be  found  many  beautiful  trees 
that  produce  no  fruit. 

What  were  and  are  yet  to  be  the  fruits  of  the  vast  la- 
bors of  the  lamented  Franklin?  More  than  ten  thousand 
sinners  converted  from  Satan  to  God,  and  made  happy  in 
the  Lord.  Numerous  churches  established.  The  grand 
body  of  the  Christian  brotherhood  instructed  and  estab- 
lished in  the  faith  of  the  Son  or"  God.  Two  volumes  of 
Gospel  sermons,  perhaps  unequaled  by  the  same  number 
anywhere  handed  down  to  posterity. 

An  example  of  faithfulness  in  the  Christian  ministry 
worthy  of  imitation  by  every  Gospel  preacher  now  living 
or  yet  unborn,  given  to  the  world. 

A  fitting  example  of  the  true  Gospel  missionary,  who, 
in  imitation  of  the  primitive  disciples,  "  went  everywhere 
pereaching  the  word,"  who  carried  out  the  commission, 
"  Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature,"  as  far  as  it  is  possible  for  any  man  to  do. 
God  gave  him  many  souls  for  his  hire,  and  his  sainted 
spirit  is  destined  to  shine  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever. 
Thousands  will  arise  in  the  day  of  glory  and  of  God  among 
the  redeemed  in  heaven  to  call  him  blessed. 

The  generations  yet  unborn  will  arise  in  the  grandeur 
of  their  God-given  faith,  and  bless  the  Lord  of  hosts 
that  Benj.  Franklin  lived,  moved  and  had  his  being 
among  men  on  earth. 

But  we  must  conclude  this  hasty  and  imperfect  sketch 
of  the  ministerial  labors  of  a  great  and  good  man.  It 
would  require  volumes  to  tell  the  story  of  his  earthly  min- 
istrations in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

To  conclude, we  may  safely  say  that  Benj.  Franklin  has 
preached  more,  exhorted  more,  travelled  more  and  im- 
mersed more  persons  than  any  man  now  living  or  dead 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  451 

among  the  Disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  since  the  beginning 
of  the  current  Reformation.  He  was  constantly  in  the 
field,  preaching  at  the  rate  of  a  sermon  and  a  half  each 
day.  Except  in  cold  winter  weather,  his  rule  was  to  preach 
morning  and  evening.  Where  is  the  preacher  who  is 
making  such  a  record?  Our  city  pastors  complain  of 
Lard  labor,  speaking  only  about  thirty  or  forty  minutes 
twice  on  the  Lord's  day.  Such  work  is  too  laborious  for 
them.  They  require  a  summer  vacation  ill  which  to  go  to 
the  springs  to  rest  and  recuperate. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  undoubtedly  the  most  laborious 
and  faithful  preacher  of  his  day,  He  was  constantly  writing 
and  publishing  as  well  as  preaching. 

He  was  not  eloquent  in  the  popular  sense.  His  elo- 
quence was  not  that  of  words  and  word-paintings,  but 
that  of  ideas.  His  eloquence  was  of  the  true  and  genuine 
stamp — original,  simple,  easy  and  natural.  It  was  that 
eloquence  that  conies  without  intention  or  previous  prep- 
aration ;  the  spontaneous  production  of  the  mind  and 
heart  when  set  on  fire  by  the  torch  of  heaven's  truth.  It 
was  that  eloquence  which  clothes  the  most  sublime  truths 
in  the  simple  language  of  a  child,  and  which  expresses 
itself  by  that  unmistakable  earnestness  and  innocence 
which  characterizes  the  child.  His  eloquence  was  that  of 
truth  when  you  see  it  naked  and  unadorned  and  stripped 
of  all  extraneous  matter. 

The  elements  of  his  power  and  efficiency  may  be  thus 
summed  up :  ^ 

1st.   His  extended  knowledge  of  the  Bible. 

2d.  His  varied  and  diversified  knowledge  of  human 
nature. 

3d.  His  strict  adherence  to  the  Bible  and  bis  constant 
unwillingness  to  depart  from,  it, 


452  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN. 

4th.  His  unwavering  and  ever  increasing  faith  in  the 
Bible. 

5th.  The  great  simplicity  of  his  manner  of  address. 

6th.  The  wonderful  earnestness  of  the  man. 

7th.  The  burning  desire  of  his  heart  to  reveal  the  truth 
to  all  men. 

8th.  His  boldness  in  exposing  all  error. 

9th.  His  love  and  constant  devotion  to  the  Bible,  the 
church  and  his  brethren  in  Christ. 

We  pray  God  that  the  generations  of  men  yet  to  come 
may  follow  this  godly  man  as  he  followed  Christ,  and 
that  his  influence  for  good  may  be  felt  to  the  latest  gen- 
erations. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

OUT  of  the  vast  number  of  men  who  write  it  may  be 
truly  said  that  but  few  write  well.  A  man  may  be 
able  to  understand  and  repeat  every  established 
rule  of  rhetoric  and  composition  and  yet  be  a  failure  as  a 
writer.  It  is  also  true  that  a  man  may  be  ignorant  of  the 
stereotyped  rules  of  composition  and  yet,  as  if  by  intui- 
tion, comprehend  the  science  of  language,  and  write  in 
an  acceptable  and  even  brilliant  manner.  Persons  known 
to  the  writer,  who  have  had  no  advantages  of  education 
and  who  could  not  repeat  a  single  law  of  language,  both 
speak  and  write  well.  Fluency  and  accuracy  in  speech 
are  in  a  large  degree  the  gift  of  the  Creator.  Many  per- 
sons who  are  highly  educated  in  the  popular  sense  can 
neither  speak  nor  write  well.  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
not  an  educated  man  in  the  college  sense  of  that  term, 
and  yet,  both  as  a  speaker  and  a  writer  he  was  practically 
a  decided  success.  There  was  a  charm  and  a  fascination 
attached  to  what  he  said  and  wrote,  that  challenged  the 
attention  of  both  hearers  and  readers. 

He  was  a  genius  both  as  a  writer  and  speaker.  His 
manner  and  method  were  his  own.  He  was  original  both 
in  manner  and  matter.  While  it  is  true  that  his  sentences 
were  generally  grammatical,  yet  he  would  have  his  own 
peculiar  way  of  saying  a  thing,  often  setting  at  defiance 
all  established  forms  and  modes  of  expression. 

He  was  not  learned  and  profoundly  critical  as  a  writer. 
He  made  no  attempts  to  appear  learned,  and  avoided 
everything  like  display.     He  did  not  wish  to  appear  in- 


454  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

tensely  critical.  He  had  learning  and  was  critical,  but  his 
learning  was  of  a  peculiar  type  with  which  his  criticisms 
always  corresponded. 

His  learning  was  not  so  extended  as  it  was  thorough.  In 
respect  to  what  he  assumed  to  know  he  challenged  con- 
tradiction. He  was  not  so  much  concerned  about  the  ex- 
tent as  he  was  about  the  correctness  of  his  knowledge. 
He  was  careful  to  look  for  the  strong,  safe  and  defensible 
side  of  every  question.  When  he  had  once  chosen  a 
position  and  taken  his  stand  squarely  upon  it,  he  was  gen- 
erally invincible  and  invulnerable.  He  feared  neither 
learning  nor  criticism. 

He  possessed  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  English  lan- 
guage to  write  well.  He  used  pure  Anglo-Saxon  and  the 
simplest  forms  of  speech  possible  to  express  his  thoughts. 
He  had  strict  regard  to  the  sense  or  meaning  of  the  terms 
he  employed  and  seldom  used  a  word  that  might  have 
more  than  one  meaning.  His  opposers  seldom  had  suffi- 
cient ground  to  misconstrue  his  language.  In  respect  to 
accuracy  of  expression  he  was  a  critical  writer. 

He  had  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language  to 
be  able  to  make  a  Greek  criticism  when  he  desired  to  do 
so.  On  several  different  occasions  he  discussed  the  mean- 
ing of  certain  Scripture  Greek  terms  with  men  of  reputed 
learning  with  sufficient  credit  to  himself  to  convince  the 
great  majority  of  his  readers  that  he  was  correct  in  his 
views.  He  made  no  pretentions  to  classic  learning,  yet 
was  by  no  means  ignorant  of  the  classics.  His  knowl- 
edge of  the  classics  was  purely  practical.  As  occasion 
required  from  time  to  time  he  examined  classic  authorities 
on  important  subjects  connected  with  the  Christian  teach- 
ing and  practice,  and  was  well  informed  as  to  the  classic 
use  of  all  Scripture  terms  involved  in  matters  of  contra^ 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  455 

versy.  Take  for  example  the  word  bapto,  and  he  had 
mastered  it  in  all  its  branches.  He  knew,  perhaps,  as 
well  as  any  man  living  its  meaning  and  varied  shades  of 
meaning,  its  classic  and  its  modern  use.  He  gave  much 
attention  to  New  Testament  Greek,  and  was  well  informed 
as  to  the  many  translations  of  that  important  document, 
^e  frequently  quoted  from  this  translator  and  then  from 
that  one  ;  and  would  then  set  forth  what  he  believed  to 
be  the  correct  rendering  and  his  reasons  therefor. 

When  Benjamin  Franklin  said  that  a  thing  was  so  or 
not  so  on  any  subject,  he  had  well  grounded  reasons  at 
hand  for  so  doing  ;  and  he  that  disputed  with  him  had  the 
harder  part. 

He  was  well  versed  in  the  views  of  learned  Scripture 
commentators  ;  with  sectarian  creeds  and  confessions  ;  with 
the  teaching  and  practice  of  the  (so-called)  popular  doc- 
tors and  divines.  His  knowledge  of  these  (especially  in 
all  matters  involving  religious  controversy)  was  critical 
and  his  writings  relating  to  these  things  are  often  severely 
and  truly  critical. 

His  knowledge  of  human  nature  was  remarkable.  It 
was  his  custom  to  examine  into  the  motives  of  men  in  all 
of  their  sayings  and  doings.  He  claimed  that  intelligent 
men  always  have  a  motive  or  reason  for  saying  or  doing 
a  thins:.  He  was  so  critical  and  correct  in  noting  the  cir- 
cumstances  and  influences  that  govern  the  actions  of  men 
that  he  often  anticipated  their  movements  with  wonderful 
accuracy.  To  very  many  in  this  regard  he  was  regarded 
as  a  reliable  prophet.  This  wonderful  sagacity  in  our  day 
is  not  the  result  of  inspiration.  It  is  the  result  of  an  al- 
most intuitive  perception  of  the  facts  and  circumstances 
by  which  men  are  prompted  to  action.  Men  make  up 
their  minds  to  do  or  not  to  do  a  thing  from  the  data  that 


456  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

is  before  them.     To  know  what  the  action  of  a  man  will 
be  in  any  given  case,  yon  must  first  know  the  particular 
stamp  and  bent  of  his  mind ;   then  you   must  know  the 
circumstances  or  data  by  which  he  is  environed;  you  can 
then   determine  w.th  a  satisfactory  degree  of   certainty 
what  his  action  will  be.     This  method  of  anticipating  the 
movements  of   men  is    simply  reasoning  from   cause  to 
effect.     The  philosophy  of  history  or  of  science  is  an  in- 
teresting study  since  one    important  event  may  be   the 
occasion  of  a  succession  of  important  events.     Benjamin 
Franklin  was  a  critical  writer  of  the  first  order  as  respects 
his  knowledge  of  the  motives  of  human  action.    _Woe  be 
to  the  luckless  evil  doer  that  became  the   subject  of  his 
pen   paintings.      He  claimed  that  it  was  legitimate  and 
proper  to  trace  all  evil  to  its  source.     He  was  accustomed 
to  hold  men  personally  responsible  for  their  actions.    His 
writings,  therefore,  were   often  severely  personal.       He 
often  exhausted  the  sources  of  criticism  in   his   examina- 
tion of  motives  and  character.     His  opposers  often  greatly 
feared  him.  from  the  fact  that  they  expected  to  be  "sifted 
as  wheat."      In  the  judgment  of  the  winter,  no  one  has 
appeared  among  the  disciples  of  this  country  who  has  ex- 
hibited such  an  accurate  and  critical  knowledge  of  human 
nature  as  Benjamin  Franklin.     He  seemed  to  read  human 
nature  as  an  ordinary   scholar  would   read   coarse  print. 
He  was  critical  on  all  matters  relating  to  the  Bible.     He 
was  a  Bible  scholar  in  the  true  sense.    He  knew  the  Bible 
from  side  to  side.      He   had   not  simply   memorized  the 
words  of  the  Bible,  but  had  indelibly  impressed  on  his 
mind  the  mind  of  the  Spirit.      He  gave  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  ideas  or  teachings  revealed  by  the  Spirit.    He 
was  therefore  a  critical  writer  on  all  Bible  themes. 

He  was  well  versed  in  nature  and  the  operation  of  na- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN   FHANKLIN.  457 

ture'slaws,  and  hence  in  all  his  writings  he  illustrated  the 
spiritual  by  the  natural.  He  believed  that  nature  and 
grace  are  harmonious  in  their  operations  ;  that  the  natural 
is  the  exemplification  and  illustration  of  the  spiritual. 

He  was  not  an  ornamental  writer.  He  had  little  regard 
to  embellishment.  He  did  not  desire  to  attract  attention 
to  his  manner,  but  to  the  subject-matter  of  his  theme. 
His  purpose  was  to  place  before  the  mind  of  the  reader, 
the  thought  or  idea  that  he  wished  to  be  understood.  He 
had  no  other  purpose,  seemingly,  than  to  impart  a  know- 
ledge of  the  truth  on  all  subjects.  American  literature 
has  degenerated  very  much  into  an  affected  ornamental 
style.  The  effort  is  to  please  and  attract  with  the  man- 
ner rather  than  the  matter.  Valuable  ideas  are  covered 
up  and  lost  in  a  useless  amount  of  rhetorical  verbiage. 
It  has  been  said  that  a  gentleman  should  neither  dress  so 
poorly  or  so  finely  as  to  attract  particular  attention.  Neat 
and  substantial  clothing  is  more  becoming.  Language  is 
simply  the  clothing  of  ideas,  and  should  neither  be  so 
vulgar  or  so  fine  as  to  attract  attention  from  the  thought 
conveyed.  As  a  garment  is  fitted  to  the  human  body,  so 
laniruao-e  should  be  suited  to  the  ideas  to  be  expressed. 

Ornamental  writers,  as  word-painters,  would  have  you 
admire  their  beautiful  language,  while  the  plain  and  prac- 
tical writer  would  have  you  grasp  and  appropriate  his 
ideas. 

Benjamin  Franklin  neither  wrote  so  poorly  or  so  grandly 
as  to  attract  attention  to  his  style.  His  method  was  so 
perfectly  natural  and  easy  as  to  attract  no  particular  at- 
tention. His  readers  always  seemed  content  with  the 
possession  of  his  valuable  thoughts.  His  style  was  beauti- 
ful, in  that  it  was  so  perfectly  unaffected.  His  writings 
were   adorned  with  that   native   simplicity  which  is   so 


460  THE    LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF 

thinker,  speaker  and  writer.  Absolute  originality  cannot 
justly  be  claimed  by  any  man, since  the  data  or  materials 
of  thought  and  reason  are  furnished  by  the  Creator.  The 
mind  of  man  simply  works  upon  the  material  furnished 
it  by  the  Great  Father,  and  with  its  powers  discovers  the 
relation  of  things  to  each  other.  From  the  law  of  rela- 
tions springs  every  thought  and  conception  possible  to 
man.  Benjamin  Franklin  went  to  the  fountain  head  for 
his  ideas ;  to  the  book  of  God  and  the  book  of  nature. 
He  preferred  to  drink  at  the  fountain  rather  than  far  down 
the  stream.  That  he  may  have  been  guided  to  the  original 
source  of  things  by  the  writings  and  sayings  of  wise  men 
who  lived  before  him  is  admitted,  but  he  certainly  had  no 
other  use  for  the  wisdom  of  men  than  that  it  might  serve 
him  as  a  guide  to  direct  his  journey  buck  to  the  infinite 
source  of  all  truth.  Having  once  gained  a  footing  on 
terra  firma,  having  once  planted  his  feet  upon  the  solid 
rock  of  heaven's  revealed  truth,  he  preferred  to  dismiss 
from  his  mind  entirely  the  preconceived  notions  and  opin- 
ions of  men,  and  to  reason  upon  the  data  of  eternal 
truth  which  was  before  him,  just  as  though  he  were  the 
first  to  explore  the  broad  field.  He  would  accept  nothing 
upon  second  hand  authority ;  he  must  know  the  origin  of 
everything  presented  for  his  consideration.  Everything 
that  came  before  him  was  referred  back  to  the  law  of  God 
— the  law  of  nature — or  rather,  as  he  expressed  it,  to 
"the  supreme  authority. "  "To  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony ;  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word  it  is 
because  there  is  no  light  in  them.,'  (Isa.  viii.  20.)  iS'o 
amount  of  learning  or  supposed  piety  could  set  aside  with 
him  the  clear  declarations  of  God's  word.  He  gave  his 
readers  the  truth  of  God  fresh  from  the  fair  field  of  nature 
and  freighted  with  that  life,  beauty  and  power  which  pro- 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN*  461 

ceeds  from  and  adorns  the  pages  of  holy  writ.  His  writ- 
ings are  to-day  as  fresh  and  fragrant  as  the  morning  breeze 
that  sweeps  over  a  garden  of  flowers. 

His  originality  was  so  great  that  he  could  write  on  old 
and  mooted  questions  with  as  much  freshness  and  interest 
as  the  daily  reporter  would  do  in  reporting  the  latest  sen- 
sation. Thousands  of  intelligent  readers  have  followed 
his  pen  with  profound  interest  veiy  many  times  over  the 
same  ground  with  increasing  interest,  gaining  each  time 
additional  knowledge  and  faith. 

For  forty  years  he  has  written  more,  in  my  opinion,  on 
the  first  principles  or  elements  of  the  Gospel  than  any 
living  man.  At  the  time  of  his  sudden  call  from  faith  to 
ultimate  knowledge,  and  from  hope  to  eternal  fruition  and 
glory*  his  writings  were  more  in  demand  than  ever  clur- 
iti£  his  Ions:  and  eventful  life. 

The  man  that  can  write  mainly  to  the  same  people,  and 
on  the  same  subjects,  for  a  period  of  forty  years  and  con- 
stantly increase  the  interest  of  his  readers  in  his  produc- 
tions, is  not  a  copyist. 

Most  writers  seek  popularity  and  hence  write  in  a  man- 
ner to  please  and  entrance  the  reader.  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin's writings  during  his  whole  life  were  against  the  pop- 
ular current  of  public  opinion,  beeause  hr>  believed  the 
main  current  to  be  flowing  in  the  wrong  direction.  He 
did  not  fall  in  with  the  current,  but  put  forth  his  best  efforts 
— and  not  in  vain — to  turn  the  current  God  ward  and 
heavenward.  He  seemed  to  care  but  little  what  men 
thought  of  him,  so  that  he  pleased  his  Maker. 

His  effort  was  to  please  all  God-fearing  and  truth-loving 
men,  and  to  assist  and  strengthen  them  in  every  way  pos- 
sible ;  while  at  the  same  time,  he  expected  to  meet  with 
opposition  from  the  combined  forces  of  error.     He  was 


462  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

well  convinced  that  there  is  a  continual  warfare  between 
truth  and  error.  Having  taken  a  bold  and  decided  stand 
with  the  advocates  of  truth  and  righteousness,  he  could 
truthfully  say,  in  the  language  of  Heaven's  King,  ad- 
dressed to  his  Disciples,  "  Woe  be  unto  you,  when  all 
men  shall  speak  well  of  you."  He  courted  no  favors  ;  he 
asked  no  quarters;  and  (as  he  was  accustomed  to  say), 
he  did  not  stop  in  any  given  case  ''to  count  noses,"  to 
see  how  many  would  vote  in  the  affirmitive,  and  how 
many  in  the  negative.  If  he  was  confident  that  he  occu- 
pied the  true  ground,  he  would  cast  his  voice  for  that 
ground,  if  he  had  to  stand  alone.  He  adopted  the  motto 
of  Father  Campbell,  "  The  truth  is  mighty  above  all 
things,  and  will  prevail."  He  believed  that  truth,  though 
often  unpopular,  can  be  made  far  more  attractive  and 
desirable  than  error;  that  the  people  love  the  truth,  and 
that  they  will  adhere  to  it  as  soon  as  convinced  of  it.  His 
effort  was  to  convince  men  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus 
though  often  against  their  will,  that  he  might  redeem  them 
from  error  and  sin.  No  man  among  the  Disciples  of 
Christ  has  been  more  highly  esteemed  by  them  as  a  writer, 
and  perhaps  no  man  has  been  so  disliked  by  the  sectarian 
world. 

As  a  writer,  he  was  popular  with  all  the  advocates  of 
primitive  Christianity  and  a  pure  religion  ;  they  regarded 
him  as  a  great  chieftain  and  leader,  and  as  abundantly 
able  to  cope  with  any  and  all  opposition.  He  has  taught 
the  important  lesson,  at  least,  that  a  writer  may  be  suffi- 
ciently popular  who  advocates  nothing  but  the  truth. 

The  most  popular  writers  of  to-day  are  largely  sensa- 
tional. They  seize  upon  every  passing  event  to  awaken 
interest  and  excite  attention.  When  the  minds  of  the 
people  are  turned  with  interest  to  a  given  event,  it  is  not 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  463 

difficult  to  excite  still  greater  interest ;  but,  to  turn  the 
minds  of  the  people  away  from  present  exciting  events 
and  circumstances,  and  cause  them  to  reflect  upon  grave 
and  important  subjects  with  increasing  interest,  is  a  much 
more  difficult  undertaking.  The  masses  will  greedily 
devour  the  sensational  stories  contained  in  the  daily 
papers,  but  it  is  with  extreme  difficulty  that  you  can  fix 
their  attention  upon  those  great  and  solemn  matters  that 
involve  the  eternal  interests  of  the  soul.  He  is  no  com- 
mon man,  who,  in  this  day,  can  hold  the  minds  of  the 
people  down  to  the  consideration  of  the  simple  truth  of 
Almighty  God. 

Benjamin  Franklin  never  wrote  a  purely  sensational 
paragraph  in  his  life ;  and  yet,  his  writings  were  sought 
with  greediness  by  the  masses  of  the  people.  They  were 
anxious  to  hear  what  "  Bro.  Franklin  "  had  to  say  on  all 
important  subjects  involving  the  happiness  of  mankind. 
He  observed,  in  all  of  his  writings  as  well  as  in  his  preach- 
ing and  daily  conduct,  the  teaching  of  holy  writ,  "  be  not 
conformed  to  the  world,  but  be  ye  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  your  mind,  that  you  may  prove  what  is  the 
good  and  acceptable  will  of  the  Lord.,,  If  he  gained  a 
great  victory  with  his  pen,  he  always  intended  that  it 
should  be  for  truth,  only  ;  and  if  defeated,  that  it  should 
be  in  defending  the  truth  and  the  right. 

Many  writers  who  have  considerable  reputation  in  the 
department  of  cultivated  literature  are  both  aimless  and 
pointless.  Such  writers  may  use  the  most  elegant  language 
and  glide  along  smoothly,  and  yet  fail  to  impress  a  single 
idea  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader,  or  to  make  any  lasting 
impression  whatever.  It  is  possible  to  write  continuously, 
connectedly,  and  sensibly,  and  yet  without  a  well-defined 
purpose  cr  end  to  be  accomplished.     No  writer  or  speaker 


464  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES   OF 

can  make  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  without  strict 
regard  to  the  proper  analysis  of  every  subject  discussed. 
Every  subject  should  be  separated  into  its  natural  and 
distinct  parts.  Each  part  should  be  presented  to  the 
reader  or  hearer  separately,  and  with  that  degree  of  em- 
phasis which  its  importance  demands.  Every  separate 
division  of  the  subject  becomes  a  point  in  the  mind  of  the 
speaker  or  writer,  to  be  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the 
reader  or  auditor  as  the  case  may  be.  Proper  analysis 
greatly  aids  the  reader  and  serves  to  impress  upon  the 
mind  and  memory  the  subject  matter  of  discourse. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  methodical  and  analytical 
writer.  He  discussed  every  subject  thoroughly  in  his  mind 
and  had  every  point  that  he  wished  to  make  clearly  defined 
before  he  lifted  his  pen.  Having  thus  prepared  himself, 
he  proceeded  in  a  methodical  and  systematic  manner  to 
open  up  the  subject  in  hand  to  the  mind  of  the  reader. 
He  possessed  wonderful  analytical  power.  He  could  take 
a  very  difficult  and  complex  matter,  and  by  his  simple  and 
easy  method  of  analysis  reduce  it  to  the  greatest  simplic- 
ity. He  seldom  if  ever,  failed  to  make  himself  understoood, 
even  by  the  ordinary  reader.  In  his  written  discussions 
with  men  of  great  learning,  who  were  often  purposely 
intensely  philosophical,  metaphysical  and  abstruse,  he 
never  failed  to  exhibit  consummate  skill  in  dissecting  their 
curiously  wrought  web  of  supposed  argumentation.  He 
would  gather  up  the  superabundance  of  their  high-toned 
and  high-flown  verbiage,  cast  it  aside  as  useless,  and  pro- 
ceed to  reduce  their  positions  to  the  utmost  simplicity. 
If  the  positions  assumed  were  erroneous  he  would  proceed 
in  a  systematic  manner  to  point  out  the  errors  and  would 
generally  close  up  with  a  clear  and  lucid  statement  of  what 
he  believed  to  be  the  truth  as  related  to  the  subject, 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  465 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  man  of  pith  and  power  as  a 
minister,  and  the  productions  of  his  pen  contained  in  the 
numerous  volumes  of  his  writings,  are  a  valuable  contri- 
bution to  Christian  literature,  and  will  make  an  impression 
favorable  for  the  truth  and  the  cause  of  Christ  on  coining 
generations. 
21 


464  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES   OP 

can  make  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  without  strict 
regard  to  the  proper  analysis  of  every  subject  discussed. 
Every  subject  should  be  separated  into  its  natural  and 
distinct  parts.  Each  part  should  be  presented  to  the 
reader  or  hearer  separately,  and  with  that  degree  of  em- 
phasis which  its  importance  demands.  Every  separate 
division  of  the  subject  becomes  a  point  in  the  mind  of  the 
speaker  or  writer,  to  be  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the 
reader  or  auditor  as  the  case  may  be.  Proper  analysis 
greatly  aids  the  reader  and  serves  to  impress  upon  the 
mind  and  memory  the  subject  matter  of  discourse. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  methodical  and  analytical 
writer.  He  discussed  every  subject  thoroughly  in  his  mind 
and  had  every  point  that  he  wished  to  make  clearly  defined 
before  he  lifted  his  pen.  Having  thus  prepared  himself, 
he  proceeded  in  a  methodical  and  systematic  manner  to 
open  up  the  subject  in  hand  to  the  mind  of  the  reader. 
He  possessed  wonderful  analytical  power.  He  could  take 
a  very  difficult  and  complex  matter,  and  by  his  simple  and 
easy  method  of  analysis  reduce  it  to  the  greatest  simplic- 
ity. He  seldom  if  ever,  failed  to  make  himself  understoood, 
even  by  the  ordinary  reader.  In  his  written  discussions 
with  men  of  great  learning,  who  were  often  purposely 
intensely  philosophical,  metaphysical  and  abstruse,  he 
never  failed  to  exhibit  consummate  skill  in  dissecting  their 
curiously  wrought  web  of  supposed  argumentation.  He 
would  gather  up  the  superabundance  of  their  high-toned 
and  high-flown  verbiage,  cast  it  aside  as  useless,  and  pro- 
ceed to  reduce  their  positions  to  the  utmost  simplicity. 
If  the  positions  assumed  were  erroneous  he  would  proceed 
in  a  systematic  manner  to  point  out  the  errors  and  would 
generally  close  up  with  a  clear  and  lucid  statement  of  what 
he  believed  tQ  he  the  truth  as  related  to  the  subject, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  465 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  man  of  pith  and  power  as  a 
minister,  and  the  productions  of  his  pen  contained  in  the 
numerous  volumes  of  his  writings,  are  a  valuable  contri- 
bution to  Christian  literature,  and  will  make  an  impression 
favorable  for  the  truth  and  the  cause  of  Christ  on  coining 
generations. 
21 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

/TV  HE  great  Reformation  of  the  present  century  began 
J-  b}'  religious  discussion  and  investigation.  Had  there 
been  no  discussion  there  could  have  been  no  Re- 
formation. The  early  Reformers  accepted  the  Bible  as 
their  only  guide  to  a  divine  faith  and  a  holy  life.  They 
regarded  it  as  amply  sufficient  to  promote  godliness  and 
piety.  The  church  of  the  living  God  was  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  all  the  truth  as  it  relates  to  man's  salvation.  It 
was  the  only  divinely  authorized  compact  body  or  associ- 
ation on  earth.  They  therefore  condemned  in  strong  and 
unmistakable  terms  human  creeds  and  all  human  organiza- 
tions established  in  the  name  of  religion.  They  not  only 
preached  the  gospel  affirmatively  but  also  negatively. 
They  not  only  emphasized  upon  what  men  were  command- 
ed to  do  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  but  also  upon  what  they 
were  commanded  not  to  do.  Where  the  Bible  speaks 
they  spoke,  and  where  it  remained  silent  they  were  silent. 
With  them  it  was  as  much  their  duty  to  condemn  what 
the  Bible  condemns,  as  to  approve  what  it  approves. 

If  it  was  their  duty  to  impress  the  fact  that  the  Bible 
is  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  conduct,  it  was  as  much 
their  duty  to  condemn  all  attempts  to  improve  upon  it  by 
making  additions  to  it. 

If  it  was  their  duty  to  declare  that  there  is  only  one 
body  or  church  of  God  on  the  earth,  it  was  their  duty  to 
condemn  all  associations  and  organizations  of  men  set  up 
in  the  name  of  religion  not  claiming  to  be  the  church  of 
the  living  God,     If  it  was  their  duty  tg  maintain,  an4  ad- 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  467 

vocate  the  power  and  potency  of  the  all-prevailing  name 
of  Jesus  the  Christ,  and  the  scripture  designations  given 
to  his  true  followers,  it  was  their  incumbent  right  and 
duty  to  oppose  and  expose  all  other  names  as  without  au- 
thority, and  as  in  violation  of  the  authority  of  heaven's 
king.  They  discarded  and  denied  both  the  name  and  the 
authority  of  Popes,  Cardinals,  Prelates,  Priests  and  dio- 
cesan Bishops,  together  with  their  humanely  devised 
organizations,  creeds  and  confessions. 

As  it  was  their  emphatic  duty  to  advocate  the  one  im- 
mersion of  the  new  and  everlasting  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  it  was  quite  as  obligatory  to  denounce  and  discard 
all  spurious  baptisms.  If  they  affirm  that  baptism  means 
immersion,  they  denied  with  emphasis  that  the  original 
term  for  baptism  could  have  any  other  literal  meaning. 
They  regarded  it  as  much  their  duty  to  denounce,  both 
publicly  and  privately,  sprinkling  and  pouring  of  water 
for  baptism,  as  to  urge  the  necessity  of  a  burial  in  water 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Having  affirmed  that  the  Holy  Spirit  reaches  the  sin- 
ner's heart  through  the  revealed  will  of  God,  and  by  un- 
derstanding and  faith  they  denied  that  it  could  be  proven 
by  the  Word  of  God  that  the  sinner  is  influenced  by  it  in 
any  other  way. 

Having  affirmed  that  faith  is  the  effect  and  product  of 
divine  fact  and  testimony  revealed  in  the  Gospel,  they 
denied  that  it  proceeds  from  any  other  source,  or  that  it 
can  be  produced  in  any  other  way.  If  God  has  ordained 
that  faith  shall  come  by  hearing  the  Word  of  God,  it  origi- 
nates in  no  other  way.  Affirming  that  the  sinner 
comes  to  the  blood  Christ  in  baptism  and  remission  of 
sins,  they  denied  that  it  could  not  be  proven  that  the  sin- 
ner who  is  properly  the  subject  of  the  Gospel  is  pardoned 
without  it. 


468  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

As  the  Scriptures  reveal  a  certain  way  to  come  to  Christ, 
they  denied  boldly  that  there  was  any  other  than  that 
certain  way.  They  therefore  opposed  all  false  ways  of 
men. 

If,  in  Apostolic  times,  no  one  was  regarded  as  a  citizen 
of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  a  Christian  who  had  not  first 
obeyed  the  specific  commands  of  the  Gospel,  they  argued 
with  the  force  of  Divine  logic,  that  in  their  day  no  one 
could  enter  the  fold  of  Christ,  or  be  regarded  as  a  Chris- 
tian, without  obedience  to  the  Divine  law  of  pardon. 

As  the  church  was  composed  anciently  of  Overseers, 
Deacons,  Evangelists,  and  the  body  of  Disciples,  they 
denied  that  it  could  be  divided  into  any  additional  classes 
or  orders  of  office. 

They  advocated  one  book,  the  Bible. 

One  faith,  defined  by  one  book,  the  Bible. 

One  inflexible  law  of  pardon. 

One  church  of  Christ  and  the  living  God. 

Only  Scripture  names  and  designations  of  the  church, 
and  the  people  of  God. 

Only  that  order,  arrangement  and  classification  of  mem- 
bers in  the  body  of  Christ  prescribed  in  the  Word  of  God. 

Only  that  manner  of  life  revealed  in  the  life  of  Christ 
and  taught  in  the  Gospel  required  of  Christians. 

No  order  of  worship  but  that  taught  and  practiced  by 
the  Apostles  and  first  Christians. 

No  end  to  attain  but  salvation  from  sin,  death  and  the 
grave,  together  with  a  final  and  an  abundant  entrance  into 
heaven  and  eternal  rest. 

In  the  advocacy  and  maintenance  of  these  God-ordained 
and  Heaven-born  truths,  they  feared  no  opposition;  and, 
believing  that  the  omnipotent  God  would  sustain  them, 
they  braved  every  danger  and  conquered  every  foe.  They, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


469 


as  brave  soldiers  of  the  cross,  put  on  the  whole  armor  of 
God,  and  declared  his  entire  counsel. 

As  the  eye  glances  along  that  long  line  of  illustrious 
reformers  engaged  in  the  great  work  of  restoring  to  the 
world  the  church  of  Christ  "without  spot  or  wrinkle,  or 
any  such  thing,"  it  rests  upon  Benjamin  Franklin  with 
fixed  attention  and  pleasing  interest,  as  a  giant  among 
giants  and  as  a  hero  among  heroes.  He  asked  no  quarters 
and  gave  none  to  the  foe.  He  made  no  compromises  and 
conceded  not  to  the  foe  a  hair's  breadth  of  heaven's  truth. 
He  had  sooner  been  sacrificed  at  the  burning  stake. 

Had  he  been  a  man  of  insignificant  ability  and  influence 
he  would  perhaps  never  have  been  assailed  by  his  religious 
enemies,  and  would  never  have  had  a  debate. 

When  an  army  is  equipped  and  a  general  leads  it  forth 
it  is  presumed  that  there  is  a  foe  to  conquer.  No  wise 
man  seeks  to  conquer  a  powerless  foe.  Mr.  Franklin  was, 
at  an  early  period  of  his  ministerial  life,  assailed  on  every 
hand  by  his  religious  foes.  They  looked  upon  him  as  a 
power  and  a  host  within  himself,  as  a  dangerous  combat- 
ant and  a  foemau  worthy  of  their  best  steel.  He  was 
making  havoc  of  their  errors  and  man-made  institutions. 
He  razed  their  time-honored  religious  thrones  and  laid  them 
level  with  the  ground.  He  scattered  their  forces  and  cap- 
tured them  by  the  hundreds.  Sampson,  in  olden  times, 
pulled  down  the  pillars  of  the  temple,  so  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin toppled  the  pillars  of  sectarian  temples,  and  leaving 
them  in  ruins  set  up  in  full  view  the  temple  of  truth  and 
the  church  of  God. 

On  account  of  his  wonderful  success  in  exposing  error, 
and  establishing  the  truth  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 
people,  his  enemies  determined  to  slay  him  in  his  youth 
and  early  manhood  if  they  could,  as  they  saw  in  him  the 
rapidly  developing  germs  of  a  spiritual  giant. 


470  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

They  challenged  him  to  debate.  He  at  once  accepted 
the  challenge,  and  came  to  the  front  with  the  two-edged 
sword  of  heaven  in  his  hand.  During  a  period  of  forty 
years  he  responded  to  every  call  that  was  made  upon  him 
where  he  could  subserve  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  find  a 
foemaii  worthy  of  his  steel.  His  first  debate,  which  was 
in  the  year  1840,  developed  in  him  a  decided  talent  for 
religious  discussion  ;  that  is  to  say  :  it  brought  to  light  the 
native  germs  of  genius  as  a  public  debater. 

Debates  were  a  necessity  in  the  early  days  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, It  was  necessary  that  Judaism  be  nailed  to  the 
cross,  that  the  temple  of  Christ — the  church — should  be 
erected  upon  its  ruins.  It  was  as  necessary  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Reformation — and  is  now — that  sectarianism 
be  nailed  to  the  cross,  that  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  be 
established  upon  its  ruins.  Ignorance  and  superstition 
must  be  dispelled  from  the  mind  before  truth  can  enter. 
Darkness  vanishes  before  the  light. 

In  the  day  of  which  we  write  it  was  fight  or  run.  Run- 
ning was  not  the  rule,  but  fighting.  No  one  unacquainted 
with  those  times  can  even  imagine  the  intense  excitement  and 
religious  agitation  attending  the  early  efforts  of  the  Refor- 
mers. A  preacher  may  now,  without  a  riffle,  or  the 
rustling  of  a  leaf,  declare  the  Bible  to  be  the  only  authority 
in  religion,  and  that  baptism  is  in  order  to  remission  of 
sins — but  not  so  then.  To  do  this  fifty,  or  even  thirty 
years  ago,  was  to  set  on  fire  the  partizan  zeal  of  the  com- 
munity. Such  a  proceeding  would  then  raise  in  arms  men, 
women  and  children,  who  would  eagerly  press  to  the  front 
to  participate  in  the  warfare  against  supposed  heresy. 

False  and  slanderous  reports  were  current,  while  cries 
of  heresy  and  blasphemy  filled  the  air.  The  humble 
dwellings  of  the  people  would  be  crowded  with  men,  wo- 


ELDEK  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  471 

men  and  children  engaged  in  an  excited  discussion  of 
"  what  that  Campbellite  preacher  said."  Groups  of  ex- 
cited men  would  collect  on  the  corners  of  streets  in  towns 
and  villages  where  the  ancient  order  was  being  advocated* 
to  argue  and  discuss  the  great  matters  involved  in  religi- 
ous reformation. 

As  the  people  were  privately  discussing,  and  with  such 
earnestness,  the  religious  issues  of  the  day,  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  they  required  their  leaders  to  publicly 
defend  their  chosen  dogmas.  They  clamored  for  public 
discussion — each  party  being  confident  of  victory.  Sec- 
tarian leaders  were  slow  to  enter  the  field.  They  were 
better  judges  of  the  strength  of  the  foe  than  the  masses 
of  their  followers.  They  were  wise  enough  to  anticipate 
results  often — but  the  people  urged  them  on  and  in  some 
cases  they  were  urged  into  the  fight  against  their  will. 
The  early  Disciples  were  also  anxious  to  overcome  the 
foe,  and  their  leaders  were  confident  of  the  safety  of 
their  cause  and  of  the  certainty  of  victory  in  case  of  bat- 
tle. The  success  of  their  leaders  in  their  first  battles  so 
flushed  them  with  victory  that  in  some  cases  they  became 
no  doubt  rudely  aggressive.  Their  abundant  zeal  in  some 
cases  was  not  according  to  knowledge.  It  was  common 
for  preachers  among  the  Keformers  to  challenge  contra- 
diction. Every  sermon  contained  a  challenge  upon  every 
important  point.  But  every  challenge  was  not  accepted. 
Only  one  now  and  then  received  attention,  but  enough  to 
occasion  frequent  and  continued  discussion  either  public 
or  private. 

Benjamin  Franklin's  bold  and  affirmative  manner  of 
preaching  was  peculiarly  offensive  to  his  religious  oppos- 
ers.  He  did  not  set  the  truth  forth  with  great  clearness 
and  force  only,  but  constantly  contrasted  it  with  error  in 


472  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

a  very  striking  and  impressive  manner.  Nearly  all  of  his 
debates  resulted  either  from  his  writing  or  preaching.  In 
a  few  instances  he  was  called  upon  to  conduct  a  debate 
not  occasioned  by  his  individual  efforts  to  advance  the 
cause  of  truth.  He  was  at  an  early  day  regarded  as  a 
representative  man  and  an  able  defender  of  the  Christian 
faith  and  practice.  Though  he  did  not  seek  discussions, 
either  for  victory  or  notoriety,  yet  he  regarded  them 
often  as  a  necessity  iii  the  advocacy  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness. He  was  during  his  successful  ministerial  career 
called  far  and  near  by  his  brethren  to  conduct  religious  dis- 
cussions, and  to  the  certain  knowledge  of  the  writer  often 
declined  to  accept  the  calls,  owing  to  previous  engage- 
ments or  other  circumstances  that  forbade. 

Had  he  been  as  anxious  for  discussion  and  disputation 
as  some  of  his  enemies  have  ignorantly  supposed,  nearly 
all  of  his  time  would  have  been  occupied  in  that  way. 

Alexander  Campbell  is  the  chief  of  all  debaters  among 
the  Disciples  of  modern  times.  He  was  the  first  to  pro- 
perly arrange  and  state  the  issues  involved  in  religious 
discussion  with  Sectarians,  Catholics  and  Infidels.  He 
also  in  his  great  debates  gave  the  models  by  which  debates 
have  since  been  conducted.  His  great  debate  with  Dr.  N. 
L.  Rice  laid  the  foundation  and  mapped  out  the  course  for 
all  the  discussions  which  have  followed.  We  do  not 
mean  that  what  Mr.  Campbell  said  in  his  debates  is  autho- 
ritative with  subsequent  debaters  among  us,  but  that  little 
improvement,  if  any,  has  been  made  either  upon  his  mat- 
ter or  his  maimer.  His  was  the  great  aud  master  mind 
among  others  that  were  truly  great. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  as  a  debater,  stands  in  the  rank 
next  to  Alexander  Campbell.  True,  he  was  not  learned 
as  was  Mr.  Campbell,  yet  in  some  respects  he  was  his 


ELDEft  BENJAMIN  ERANKLItf.  473 

superior.  Though  not  so  learned  and  critical,  his  method 
was  so  simple,  natural  and  easy,  as  to  be  better  adapted 
to  the  illiterate  mind  and  the  masses  of  the  people. 

The  grand  thoughts  conceived  in  the  mind  of  Mr. 
Campbell  and  expressed  by  him  in  language  chaste  and 
scholarly,  were  also  grasped  by  Mr.  Franklin,  but  deliv- 
ered to  the  people  by  the  simplest  forms  of  speech  with 
which  the  people  were  most  familiar.  Mr.  Campbell  was 
the  champion  debater  of  his  times  with  and  before  the 
learned,  and  was  by  no  means  destitute  of  power  over  the 
not  so  highly  favored  masses. 

Mr.  Franklin  was  the  champion  of  his  day  in  debating 
with  that  class  of  men  who  have  a  peculiar  power  over  the 
masses  of  the  people.  Either  in  preaching,  debating  or 
writing,  he  could  sway  the  public  mind  at  will.  His  argu- 
ments and  illustrations  were  such  as  made  a  lasting 
impression  upon  the  hearer.  No  amount  of  learning  or 
art  could  either  evade  or  invalidate  his  plain  and  lucid 
statements  of  the  truth. 

We  would  here  call  attention  to  an  important  item  con- 
nected with  public  as  well  as  private  discussions,  viz : 
The  wording  and  defining  of  the  issues  involved  in  dis- 
cussion. No  issue,  however  important,  can  be  properly 
disposed  of  until  it  is  first  stated  in  a  clear,  concise  and 
comprehensive  manner.  In  fact,  no  man  is  qualified  to 
debate  who  is  not  master  of  the  terms  involved,  as  respects 
their  proper  place  and  meaning.  The  fewest  words  pos- 
sible, and  of  the  simplest  character,  should  comprehend 
the  issue.  If  the  issue  be  not  so  stated,  there  is  room 
for  evasion  and  false  construction. 

Mr.  Franklin,  after  a  brief  experience,  became  an  ex- 
pert in  arranging  and  stating  propositions  for  debate.  It 
often  becomes  exceedingly  difficult  to  get  an  opponent  to 


474  THE   LIFE   AtfD   TIMES   Off 

agree  to  a  clear  and  lucid  proposition.  Mr.  Franklin,  by 
his  superior  skill  and  management,  generally  succeeded  in 
obtaining  such  statements  of  the  issues  proposed  for  debate 
as  would  admit  of  no  evasion  or  misconstruction.  Having 
secured  a  concise  and  definite  statement  of  the  matter  to 
be  discussed — if  in  the  affirmative — he  proceeded  with 
clearness  and  force  to  define  the  terms  of  his  proposition, 
and  to  get  its  full  meaning  before  the  mind  of  his  hearers. 
He  knew  nothing  in  debate  but  his  proposition  and  that 
which  legitimately  and  properly  belonged  to  it.  He  could 
not  be  turned  out  of  his  way  to  discuss  side  issues.  The 
man  who  agreed  to  discuss  certain  propositions  with  Mr. 
Franklin  might  be  well  assured  that  he  would  not  success- 
full}'  make  a  false  issue  with  him.  He  allowed  no  evasions 
and  equivocations  to  pass  without  exposure.  He  called 
frequent  attention  to  the  real  issue,  often  restating  and 
impressing  it  upon  the  minds  of  the  people.  He  debated 
not  for  victory  over  men,  but  for  the  enlightenment  of  the 
people  and  the  furtherance  of  the  cause  of  Christ.  His 
main  reliance  in  all  of  his  debates,  both  with  tongue  and 
pen,  was  Scripture.  All  other  evidence  in  proof  of  his 
propositions  was  regarded  by  him  as  simply  incidental, 
illustrative  and  corroborative.  Science,  reason  and  philoso- 
phy, were  made  to  bend  to  the  Bible. 

Nothing  with  him  was  accepted  as  scientific,  reasonable 
or  philosophical,  that  did  not  harmonize  with  the  word  of 
God.  He  claimed  that  there  could  be  no  better  evidence 
that  a  statement  is  unreasonable  and  unphilosophical  if  it 
be  proven  conclusively  that  it  contradicts  the  plain  state- 
ments of  divine  revelation.  The  Bible,  with  him,  was  the 
foundation  of  all  true  science  and  philosophy.  It  is  clearly 
evident  that  divine  revelation  is  in  perfect  accord  with 
true   science    and  philosophy.     Mr.   Franklin's   superior 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  475 

knowledge  of  the  will  of  God,  as  expressed  in  the  Bible, 
gave  him  a  clear  and  ready  insight  into  the  workings  of  the 
laws  of  nature,  and  the  principles  of  philosophy,  wherever 
found,  whether  in  nature,  science  or  reason.  The  Bible, 
with  him,  was  the  basis  of  all  learning.  His  opponents 
often  attempted  to  exhibit  superior  learning.  This  he 
was  willing  to  allow  them,  provided  their  boasted  learning 
was  in  strict  accord  with  the  word  of  God  ;  and  if  such 
claims  were  not  sustained  by  divine  facts  he  would  make 
such  assumption  appear  to  be  the  absence  of  real  knowl- 
edge. He  knew  the  Bible  from  first  to  last  and  had 
pondered  upon  its  every  page  and  sentence. 

Any  attempt  to  change  the  sense  of  the  divine  volume, 
or  to  alter  in  any  way  the  language  of  the  Spirit,  was 
severely  rebuked  by  him.  The  book  must  be  accepted, 
when  fairly  translated,  just  as  it  reads.  God  must  be 
taken  at  his  word  or  not  at  all.  The  Bible  must  mean 
what  it  asserts  or  nothing.  It  is  the  sum  of  authority  or 
no  authority.  It  must  be  the  most  wonderful  book  of 
truth,  or  the  most  wonderful  book  of  fiction  ever  produced. 
It  is  a  light  and  a  guide  to  men,  or  a  stumbling  block  and 
rock  of  offense.  It  has  proven  to  be  both  a  light  and  a 
guide,  as  well  as  a  comfort  and  consolation  to  the  be- 
nighted and  sin-cursed  race  of  Adam.  Mr.  Franklin  chose 
at  all  times  the  weapons  of  spiritual  warfare  in  which  to 
fight — and  he  chose  to  fight  only  the  good  fight  of  faith. 
He  cared  but  little  for  any  contest  that  did  not  relate  to 
the  salvation  of  man  from  sin  and  death. 

His  manner  in  debate  was  direct  and  positive.  His 
conclusions  were  so  near  his  premises  that  the  uncultiva- 
ted mind  could  follow  him  without  difficulty  or  confusion. 
The  masses  delighted  to  hear  his  arguments,  because  they 
coiild  so  well  understand  them,     When,  he  made  $11  argu- 


476  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

ment  it  was  with  such  force  and  clearness  that  there  was 
but  little  room  left  to  doubt  its  correctness.  If  a  statement 
be  not  clear  and  explicit  in  itself  it  is  not  difficult  to  dispose 
of  it.  But  if  it  bears  upon  its  face  unmistakable  eviden- 
ces of  its  own  truthfulness,  it  will  be  found  difficult  to 
make  it  appear  otherwise  than  true.  Mr.  Franklin's 
method  was  not  doubtful,  but  self-evident  and  conclusive. 
It  was  so  simple  and  plain  that  his  opponent  could  not 
plead  that  he  did  not  understand  him.  When  the  body 
of  the  people  could  understand,  an  opponent  would  only 
exhibit  his  ignorance  by  seeming  to  misunderstand,  and 
hence,  he  had  to  meet  the  issue  fairly  made  or  shrink  from 
the  task. 

His  manner  of  debating  was  natural,  pleasant  and  agree- 
able. He  could  not  be  excited  to  anger.  The  writer  calls 
to  mind  an  occasion  at  one  of  his  public  debates  when  his 
opponent  brandished  his  fist  in  his  face,  accompanying  the 
demonstration  with  the  most  insulting  language,  all  of 
which  was  intended  to  place  Mr.  Franklin  off  his  guard, 
but  without  the  desired  effect.  He  remained  unmoved 
and  perfectly  composed  that  he  might  thereby  gain  a  vic- 
tory over  his  opponent  by  the  exhibition  of  a  meek  and 
gentle  christian  spirit.  All  were  impressed  with  his  good 
spirit  and  could  but  regard  his  disputant  as  greatly  out  of 
order.  His  answer  to  such  abuse  was  not  angry  words, 
but  still  stronger  arguments  in  proof  of  his  positions — 
further  assuming  that  if  angry  words  and  the  exhibition  of 
a  bad  spirit  proved  his  friends'  positions  to  be  correct, 
that  the  proof  was  not  wanting.  If  the  principles  the 
gentleman  advocated  produced  such  fruit  as  that  they 
should  be  denounced  by  all. 

He  did  not  often  resort  to  wit  and  pleasantry,  but  when 
he  did,  succeeded  in  making  the  desired  impression,     He. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  477 

could  relate  an  anecdote  with  zest,  and  could  bring  down 
the  laugh  upon  his  opponent  when  necessity  required  it, 
but  he  greatly  preferred  dignified  and  grave  discussion. 
His  anecdotes  and  witticisms  were  only  in  reply  to  an 
attempt  at  something  of  the  kind  upon  the  part  of  his  op- 
ponent. 

In  arranging  for  a  public  discussion  the  disputants  gen- 
erally correspond  with  reference  to  the  issues  involved 
and  the  wording  of  them.  Often  quite  as  much  skill  is 
required  for  this  work  as  for  the  debate  itself.  If  a 
debater  does  not  know  how  to  make  up  the  issues  he  is 
certainly  not  prepared  to  discuss  them.  Each  disputant 
is  anxious  to  arrange  the  propostions  to  his  own  advan- 
tage. Mr.  Franklin  sought  no  advantage  in  the  wording 
of  issues,  but  never  allowed  an  opponent  any  advantage 
of  him  in  that  way.  It  was  his  custom  to  insist  that  his 
opponent  should  affirm  what  he  and  his  church  taught  and 
he  expressed  a  willingness  to  affirm  the  Christian  doctrine 
and  to  defend  it  to  the  last.  As  the  correspondence  of 
his  published  debates  will  show  he  found  it  frequently 
difficult  to  get  his  opposers  to  affirm  in  debate  what  is  set 
forth  in  their  creeds.  As  Mr.  Franklin  was  an  able  de- 
bater and  a  good  judge  of  men,  he  could  very  well  deter- 
mine by  the  preliminary  correspondence  the  character  of 
his  opposer.  He  could  generally  determine  what  he 
regarded  as  his  strong  points  by  his  boldness  concerning 
them,  and  upon  what  points  he  was  conscious  of  weak- 
ness by  his  evasions  of  them.  Mr.  Franklin's  knowledge 
of  human  nature  gave  him  a  great  advantage  in  debating 
— he  could  determine  the  feeling  and  convictions  of  his 
opponent,  notwithstanding  his  efforts  to  conceal  them. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  exact  number  of  debates 
held  by  Mr,  Franklin,     He  stated  to  the  writer  but  a 


478  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

short  time  before  his  death  that  he  had  conducted  more 
than  thirty  regular  debates  of  an  oral  character,  and  of 
course  a  great  number  of  irregular  and  written  discus- 
sions.  We  have  neither  time  nor  space  here  to  insert  an 
extended  notice  and  review  of  his  published  debates,  which 
are  six  in  number.  A  short  and  very  imperfect  notice  of 
some  of  these  must  suffice. 

Erasmus  Manford,  editor  of  Manford.  8  Magazine — a 
monthly  periodical  devoted  to  the  advocacy  of  Universal- 
ism,  has  been  regarded  by  Universal ists  generally  for  the 
last  forty  years  as  the  champion  of  their  chosen  doctrine 
in  all  this  western  country.  He  has  engaged  in  more  fre- 
quent discussions,  both  oral  and  wriitten,  in  defense 
of  Universalism,  than  any  man  known  to  the  writer.  To 
this  day  he  is  regarded  by  his  frinds  and  admirers  as  their 
great  chieftain,  defender  and  leader,  which  accounts  for 
the  fact  that  he  is  so  frequently  called  upon  to  defend 
their  cause,  which  is  only  a  negative  one  and  can  in  no 
way  be  benefitted  by  any  defense  that  may  be  made  of  it. 
If  the  doctrine  be  true  that  all  mankind  will  be  finally 
saved,  the  mere  belief  of  such  a  doctrine  will  save  no 
one  and  the  disbelief  of  it  will  condemn  no  one.  Mr. 
Franklin  was  among  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  among  the 
Disciples  to  meet  the  great  champion  of  Universalism  in 
public  debate. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1847/  Mr.  Franklin  engaged 
Mr.  Manford  in  debate,  and  the  following  propositions 
were  discussed : 

1st.  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  that  the  coming  of  Christ 
to  judge  the  world  is  future?     Franklin  affirms. 

2d.  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  the  final  holiness  and  hap- 
piness of  all  mankind?     Manford  affirms. 

3d.  Do  the  scriptures  teach  that  those  who  die  in  djs-r 


ELD££   BENJAMIN   FEANKLlN.  479 

obedience  to  the  gospel  will  suffer  endless  punishment? 
Franklin  affirms. 

In  closing  the  debate  on  the  lirst  proposition,  Mr. 
Franklin  used  the  following  language  : 

"Fellow  citizens  and  neighbors: — You  have  listened 
with  the  most  profound  attention  to  the  arguments  1  have 
offered  to  show  that  the  coming  of  Christ  to  judge  the 
world  is  future.  In  view  of  the  solemn  declarations  of 
the  word  of  God,  to  which  I  have  referred  you,  I  am  con- 
fident that  you  feel  as  certain  that  the  coming  of  Christ  to 
judge  our  race  is  future  as  you  do  that  the  Bible  is  a  rev- 
elation from  God  ;  and  when  you  shall  lay  down  your 
mortal  bodies,  you  will  feel  the  same  assurance  of  judg- 
ment at  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  the  coming  of 
Christ,  that  you  do  of  a  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

"  You  have  heard  what  Mr.  Manford  could  say  in  oppo- 
sition to  this  clear  and  explicit  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  you  must  feel  satisfied  that  the  evasions  he  has 
made  are  of  a  character  too  weak  for  an  intelligent  man  to 
risk  his  reputation  upon  as  a  man  of  clear  mind,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  I  am  certain  you 
will  not  receive  such  miserable  contradictions  and  absur- 
dities. I  am  certain  that  you  cannot  harbor  them  in 
preference  to  the  truth  of  God. 

"  I  say  then,  that,  after  giving  the  most  careful  atten- 
tion to  the  study  of  the  holy  book  in  my  power  for  a 
goodly  number  of  }ears,  I  am  compelled,  by  honest  con- 
viction and  by  ever  candid  impulse,  to  assure  you  that  we 
may  most  certainly  expect  to  be  judged  after  death. 
What  manner  of  persons  ought  we  then  to  be  in  all  holy 
conversation  and  godliness,  looking  for  and  hastening 
unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God.  Let  us  not  inquire 
where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming,   but  remember  that 


480  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

the  heavens  and  the  earth,  which  are  now  reserved  unto 
fire  against  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of  ungodly 
men."* 

After  the  discussion  of  the  second  proposition,  Mr. 
Franklin  concludes  as  follows  : 

"  I  maintain  that  a  man  cannot  be  in  danger  of 
eternal  damnation  unless  there  is  such  a  thing  to  be  in 
danger  of ;  and  I  maintain  that  a  man  cannot  be  in  danger 
of  loosing  his  soul  unless  there  is  such  a  thing ;  and  the 
soul  and  body  will  not  be  destroyed  in  Gehenna  after 
death  unless  there  is  such  a  place  and  such  a  thing.  A 
man  may  then  suffer  that  eternal  damnation  which  the 
words  of  Jesus  imply — that  he  hath  never  forgiveness 
and  the  soul  may  be  lost,  both  soul  and  body  being  de- 
stroyed in  hell  after  the  death  of  the  body. 

I  declare  to  you,  my  hearers  and  neighbors,  after  apply- 
ing my  mind  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  for  many 
years,  and  now,  reflecting  upon  them  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  that  should  I  at  death  go  into  eternity  convinced 
that  I  was  the  very  person  to  whom  such  language  applied, 
I  would  have  no  more  hope  of  escaping  the  fierceness  and 
wrath  of  Almighty  God,  than  I  would  have  should  our 
circuit  judge  lawfully  pronounce  the  sentence  upon  me 
that  I  should  hang  till  I  was  dead  dead,  of  escaping  that 
sentence.  Indeed,  I  should  not  have  so  much  hope  for 
some  to  escape  such  sentences  as  that  just  mentioned  ; 
but  from  the  all-seeing  eye  of  God's  irrevocable  justice, 
there  is  no  escape — no  deceit  or  hypocrisy  will  escape  ;  no 
cunning  and  crafty  being  will  be  able  to  avoid  justice. 

You  have  now  heard  us  patiently  through  on  two  pro- 


Milton  Debate,  p.  101. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  481 

positions.  The  only  decision  you  are  called  on  to  make 
is  simply  to  decide  for  yourselves  in  such  a  way  as  you 
will  not  have  reason  to  repent  of  when  you  come  to  die, 
and  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ. 

Remember  that  the  infallible  word  of  God  promises 
that  if  you  do  his  commandments  and  are  faithful  unto 
death,  you  shall  enter  by  the  gates  into  the  city  and  have 
a  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  go  out  no  more  forever  and 
ever.  Is  the  ingratitude  of  your  heart  such  as  not  to  be 
willing  to  enjoy  happiness  forever,  simply  because  God 
requires  you  to  obey  him?  Then  you  must  be  punished. 
Even  the  mightiest  spirit  that  burns  before  the  eternal 
throne  has  to  move  in  perfect  subordination  to  the  will  of 
God.  Even  Jesus,  the  express  image  of  the  invisible 
God  in  whom  all  the  fullness  of  the  God-head  dwells 
bodily,  became  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  became 
obedient  unto  death,  and  learned  obedience  by  the  things 
which  he  suffered,  and  became  the  author  of  eternal  sal- 
vation to  all  them  that  obey  him.  Will  you  take  this 
example,  and  learn  of  Him  who  is  meek  and  lowly,  and 
find  rest  to  your  soul?  Will  you  remember  that  this  is 
the  love  of  God,  that  you  keep  his  commandments?  If 
you  will,  the  veracity  of  his  word  is  pledged  that  you 
shall  be  saved.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you  feel  a  spirit  of 
irreconciliation  to  God,  and  join  in  vicious  language  rela- 
tive to  the  very  words  of  Scripture,  such  as  "  infernal 
doctrine  of  tormenting  and  burning,"  as  you  have  heard 
on  the  present  occasion,  you  may  expect  to  be  subdued 
by  the  *•  fiery  indignation  which  shall  devour  the  adversa- 
ries. "  "  Vengeance  is  mine;  I  will  repay,"  saith  the 
Lord."  And  again,  "  The  Lord  shall  judge  his  people." 
Yes,  and  He  will  punish  the  rebellious  with  that  "  sorer 
punishment  than  death  without  mercy,"  which  Mr.  Man- 


482  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP 

ford  has  failed  to  point  out  in  this  life,  and  which  no  man 
can  find  short  of  destroying  the  soul  and  body  in  geheniia 
after  death."* 

Mr.  Franklin,  in  concluding  his  last  speech  on  the  last 
proposition  discussed,  remarked,  as  follows  :  "  That  the 
soul  and  the  body  of  man  may  be  destroyed  in  hell,  after 
death,  where  the  worm  dieth  not  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched,  where  he  will  suffer  eternal  punishment  and  be 
tormented  forever  and  ever,  is  just  as  certain  as  that  the 
Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God.  Whoever  shall  be  the 
miserable  victims  of  this  fierce  vengeance  of  God,  most 
certainly  will  be  without  anything  to  ground  a  hope  of 
escape  upon.  I  ask,  then,  what  language  the  Almighty 
could  have  used  to  express  the  duration  of  the  punishment 
of  the  wicked,  that  would  have  been  more  forcible  than 
that  to  which  I  have  referred.  I  do  not  know  any  way 
that  endless  punishment  could  have  been  expressed  more 
clearly  than  it  is  expressed  in  the  Bible.  *  *  *  The 
subjects  we  have  discussed  have  been  before  me  some 
twelve  years,  and  I  know  that  I  have  looked  at  them  with 
candor,  and  look  upon  it  as  my  duty,  now  that  we  are 
about  to  close  the  debate,  to  assure  you  that  I  am  happy 
in  thus  having  made  this  effort  in  defence  of  truth  and 
righteousness,  and,  although  I  have  received  the  most 
insulting  language,  I  have  tried  to  preserve  the  spirit  of 
my  Master,  and  not  return  railing  for  railing. 

"Gentlemen  moderators,  you  have  my  most  grateful 
thanks  for  the  respectful  and  dignified  manner  you  have 
presided  in  this  discussion.  And  you,  my  fellovv-citizens, 
have  my  most  sincere  thanks  for  your  patient  attention. 

"My  prayer  to  the  giver  of  all  good  is,  that  this  discus- 

*Milton  Debate,  pp.  234-236. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FHANKLIN.  483 

sion  may  be  the  means,  under  God,  of  enlightening  man- 
kind and  promoting  righteousness  in  the  earth.  To  the 
great  name  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  be  honor  and 
power  everlasting.      Amen.*" 

The  arguments  of  Mr.  Franklin  throughout  this  discus- 
sion were  masterly  and  conclusive.  As  they  were  made 
from  the  plain  and  unmistakable  statements  of  the  word 
of  God, not  much  improvement  can  be  made  upon  them. 

The  Franklin  and  Manford  debate  has,  since  its  first 
publication,  been  often  called  for  by  those  who  have  to 
combat  Universalism.  Our  preachers,  in  preparing  for 
public  discussions  with  Universalists,  have  generally  been 
careful  to  receive  and  closely  study  this  book  in  order  to 
obtain  a  knowledge  of  Mr.  Franklin's  successful  method 
of  answering  the  arguments  of  the  defenders  of  that  faith 
— or  rather — system  of  unbelief. 

Erasmus  Manford  yet  lives  to  wield  both  tongue  and 
pen  in  defence  of  a  doctrine  which,  if  inculcated,  lets  loose 
the  baser  passions  of  the  human  heart,  which  encourages 
crime  of  every  character  by  removing  the  fear  of  punish- 
ment, and  which  leads  men  blind-folded  into  the  pit  of 
misery  and  endless  woe.  Who  is  benefitted  by  the  belief 
of  Universalism?  From  what  evil  thing  is  any  man  saved 
by  it?  It  imparts  no  virtue,  stimulates  to  no  good,  and 
saves  from  no  evil.  It  robs  the  soul  of  those  high 
and  heavenly  motives  which  promote  virtue  and  pu- 
rity, and  utterly  obliterates  the  line  of  demarkation  between 
good  and  evil.  It  virtue  has  no  reward  why  practice  it? 
If  vice  has  no  adequate  punishment  why  not  indulge  every 
evil  passion,  and  give  way  entirely  to  the  inordinate  and 
sinful  desires  of  the  flesh?    Glory,  immortality,  and  eter- 


Milton  Debate,  pp.  335-56. 


484  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

nal  life  are  not  things  to  be  sought  after,  and  to  be 
obtained  by  a  life  of  holiness  and  self-denial,  but  which 
are  vouchsafed  to  the  very  chief  of  sinners  as  well  as  to 
the  King  of  Saints.  Just  as  certain  as  there  are  rewards 
in  heaven  there  are  punishments  in  hell. 

Contrast,  if  you  please,  for  a  moment,  the  lives  of  the 
two  men,  Franklin  and  Man  ford :  For  what  has  Mr. 
Manford  labored  with  tongue  and  pen  for  forty  years  ?  To 
teach  men  that  there  is  no  punishment  after  death  that 
should  in  the  least  be  feared  ;  that  there  is  no  crime,  how- 
ever great,  that  can  prevent  their  entrance  into  heaven. 
He  has. labored  hard,  a  whole  life-time,  to  destroy  in  the 
heart  of  man  the  fear  of  God,  which  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom.  Not  a  heart  sorrowing  in  sin  has  he  comforted  ; 
not  a  single  burden  of  sin  has  he  lifted  from  the  troubled 
soul  of  man.  He  has  offered  to  fallen  humanity  not  a 
single  inducement  to  rid  themselves  of  the  filth  and  slime 
of  sin,  and  to  appear  before  God  in  the  pure  and  spotless 
robes  of  righteousness.  He  has  left  the  world  no  better 
than  he  found  it,  so  far  as  his  influence  is  concern*  d. 
His  system  affords  no  light  to  benighted  humanity ;  im- 
parts no  virtue  and  proffers  no  Salvation. 

But  what  of  the  life  of  Benjamin  Franklin?  His  mis- 
sion among  men  was  like  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  'Ho 
convince  men  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judgment ;"  like 
that  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  Like 
the  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  preached  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  a  lost  and  perishing  world. 
He  imparted  to  men  the  faith  of  God  and  the  hope  of 
heaven.  He  opened  up  to  men  the  path  of  virtue  and 
taught  them  that  holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord.  He  impressed  upon  all  the  fear  of  a  just  and 
holy  God;  that  there  was  a  day  of  judgment  and  perdition 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  485 

of  Ungodly  men  rapidly  approaching.  He  lifted  humanity 
up  from  the  mire  and  the  clay  to  the  extent  of  his  influence 
and  placed  their  feet  upon  the  rock  of  ages.  He  taught 
them  to  walk  with  implicit  faith  the  shining  way  that  leads 
to  glory  and  to  God.  He  imparted  those  heavenly  virtues 
that  adorn  and  bless  humanity  here,  and  which  fit 
them  for  an  eternity  of  bliss  beyond  the  grave.  He  leaves 
to  the  world  a  rich  legacy  of  divine  and  holy  instruction, 
and  an  example  worthy  of  the  great  cause  he  plead.  The 
motives  that  prompted  the  two  men  in  life  are  certainly 
as  far  separated  as  heaven  and  earth.  Franklin's  whole 
life  was  an  effort  to  raise  men.  Man  ford's  to  teach  them 
that  there  is  no  salvation.  Franklin's  work  remains  to 
bless  humanity,  and  Manford's  to  curse  them.  Thousands 
who  walk  in  the  heavenly  way  and  whose  many  virtues 
illuminate  this  vale  of  sin  and  woe  will  rise  up  in  eternity 
to  bless  the  one  who  showed  their  feet  the  way. 

Commencing  May  26th,  1852,  Mr.  Franklin  engaged 
in  a  public  discussion  with  James  Mathews,  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  and  located  at  Carlisle,  Ky.,  on  the 
"Predestination  and  foreknowledge  of  God."  The  dis- 
cussion was  published  in  a  printed  volume  which  contains 
450  pages,  nnd  is  a  thorough  discussion  of  the  important 
subject  discussed.  At  the  time  this  debate  was  held  the 
doctrine  of  a  predetermined  and  unconditional  election 
was  generally  received  by  the  protestant  sects,  but  since 
which  time  has  become  generally  unpopular.  Mr.  Frank- 
lin had,  under  existing  circumstances,  to  contend  against 
the  prejudices  of  a  great  majority  of  his  hearers  in  this 
debate.  But,  having  adopted  the  motto,  that  "  the 
truth  is  mighty  above  all  things  and  will  prevail,"  he 
entered  the  debate  with  faith  and  courage,  and  came  out 
without  the  smell  of  fire  on  his  garments. 


486  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF 

That  God  elects  men  to  salvation  and  that  he  chooses  the 
character  destined  to  eternal  life  is  evident.  That  God  in 
his  eternal  purpose  decided  who  would  be  saved  and  who 
lost  is  apparent.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
eternal  purpose  is  revealed  in  the  gospel  and  that  the 
election  made  from  all  eternity  is  in  most  perfect  har- 
mony with  the  terms,  conditions  and  specifications  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Mr.  Franklin,  in  this  debate,  with 
great  clearness  and  force,  sets  forth  the  gospel  plan  of 
salvation. 

Commencing  April  5th,  1858,  Mr.  Franklin  engaged 
in  a  protracted  discussion  with  Mr.  S.  M.  Merrill,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  located  at  Portsmouth, 
Ohio. 

Mr.  Franklin's  ability  as  a  debater,  by  this  time,  had 
become  generally  known  to  the  public,  and  he  engaged 
in  numerous  important  discussions  which  we  cannot  now 
notice. 

The  debate  with  Mr.  Merrill  was  of  great  importance 
to  the  cause,  on  account  of  the  remarkable  interest  mani- 
fested by  the  parties  to  it.  It  was  a  combined  and  con- 
solidated effort  on  the  part  of  Methodists  to  kill  the  sup- 
posed monster  "  Campbellism."  Upon  the  part  of  the 
Disciples  it  was  a  determined  effort  to  defend  and  main- 
tain the  truth  of  God.  Mr.  Franklin  had  been  called  to 
Portsmouth  to  preach  the  ancient  Gospel. 

As  was  his  custom,  he  was  boldly  affirmative  and  em- 
phatically negative.  He  announced  the  truth  and  exposed 
error  with  such  an  effect  as  to  cause  Mr.  Merrill  to  open 
a  correspondence  with  him  relative  to  a  review  by  him  of 
Mr.  Franklin's  positions,  charging  him  with  "  denouncing 
the  clergy  of  the  city"  as  m  being  ignorant  and  deluded, 
if  not   wicked   and   hypocritical."     This    Mr.    Franklin 


ELDER    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  487 

denied,  claiming  that  he  was  "  preaching  peace  by  Jesus 
Christ."  After  an  interesting  and  protracted  correspond- 
ence, a  formal  discussion  was  agreed  upon. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  is  invited  to  the  simplicity, 
conciseness  and  clearness  of  the  propositions  discussed  in 
this  debate.  The  wording  of  the  propositions  exhibit  the' 
skill  of  Mr.  Franklin  as  much,  perhaps,  as  his  arguments 
upon  them.  A  protracted  and  ingenious  correspondence 
was  required  to  induce  Mr.  Merrill  to  accept  the  issues  as 
stated : 

1.  Immersion  is  the  only  baptism  taught  in  the  Christian 
Scriptures  and  practiced  by  the  Apostles. — Franklin. 

2.  The  Scriptures  authorize  the  practice  of  infant  Bap- 
tism.— Merrill. 

3.  The  Scriptures  teach  that  baptism  is  a  condition  of 
the  forgiveness  of  sins. — Franklin. 

The  volume  containing  a  full  report  of  this  discussion, 
and  also  of  the  correspondence,  comprises  568  pages,  and 
has  been  of  immense  interest  and  value  to  the  cause  of 
primitive  Christianity.  Both  were  representative  men, 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  case  developed  their  powers 
fully. 

The  last  debate  of  Mr.  Franklin  was  the  Keynoldsburg 
debate.  Mr.  Thompson,  his  opponent,  was  an  old-school 
Baptist,  after  the  strictest  sect,  was  a  man  of  considerable 
learning,  of  age  and  experience.  The  debate  was  printed, 
had  an  extended  sale,  and  is  yet  in  demand.  We  give  it 
as  our  deliberate  judgment,  that  Mr.  Thompson  made  the 
best  argument  in  favor  of  the  Calvinistic  theory  that  we 
ever  examined — which  called  into  lively  use  the  wonderful 
powers  of  Mr.  Franklin  in  reply.  The  book  will  become 
a  standard  in  the  discussion  of  the  old  Calvinistic  theory. 
Jdr.  Franklin  once  remarked  to  the  writer  of  Mr.  Thomp- 


488  THE   LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF 

son,  that  "  he  seemed  to  know  every  passage  in  the  Bible 
in  which  reference  is  made  to  any  other  than  human 
agency  ;  "  "  but,"  said  he,  "  during  the  whole  ten  clays' 
protracted  and  heated  discussion,  I  could  not  get  him  to 
concede  the  fact  that  man  could  do  a  single  thing  for 
himself,  either  with  or  without  the  grace  of  God." 

Mr.  Franklin,  perhaps,  never  met  a  more  determined 
man  than  Mr.  Thompson,  nor  did  he  ever  exhibit  more 
fully  his  wonderful  power  and  genius,  than  in  this  debate. 

Not  long  after  the  debate,  Mr.  Thompson  laid  down  the 
weapons  of  his  earthly  warfare,  and  retired  from  the  stage 
of  action. 

Mr.  Franklin,  having  finished  his  course,  preserved  the 
faith,  and  fought  the  good  fioht  at  the  summons  of  his 
captain  and  leader,  soon  followed  his  brave  opponent  to 
the  eternal  world. 

The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  both  of  these  men 
will  stand  together  before  the  great  judge  of  quick 
and  dead,  who  will  adjust  all  differences  and  settle  all  dis- 
putes finally  and  forever.  No  one  believed  with  stronger 
faith  than  Mr.  Franklin  that  there  will  be  a  day  of  final 
account.  Every  act  of  his  Christian  life  was  performed 
with  reference  to  that  great  clay.  Every  argument  that 
he  made  in  defense  of  the  Bible,  and  every  position  as- 
sumed, in  his  great  mind,  related  to  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ.  He  proclaimed,  advocated  and  defended  that 
truth  by  which  the  world  is  to  be  finally  judged. 

Mr.  Franklin  was  kind  and  respectful  toward  his  oppo- 
nents, and  could  not  be  induced  to  resort  to  abuse  and  ill- 
treatment.  He  never  failed  to  make  a  lasting  impression 
for  good  in  the  community  where  a  discussion  was  held. 
He  greatly  enlightened  the  minds  and  strengthened  the 
iaith  of  the  Pisciples,      It  is  very  seldom,  indeed,  that 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  489 

partisans  are  converted  by  debates — but  honest  minds 
among:  those  who  are  not  committed  are  often  convinced 
of  the  truth. 

The  last  discussion  ever  attended  by  Mr.  Franklin  was 
the  Kentucky  Flat  Rock  debate,  between  Mr.  J.  S.  Sween- 
ey, of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  Mr.  Miller,  of  the  M. 
E.  Church.  He  was  profoundly  interested  with  the  dis- 
cussion, and  greatly  delighted  with  Mr.  Sweeney  as  a 
debater.  He  gave  quite  an  extensive  report  of  the  debate 
in  the  Review.  He  seemed  to  take  as  much  interest  in 
the  discussion  of  the  now  old  and  mooted  questions,  as  he 
did  forty  years  ago  in  his  first  debates. 

His  published  debates  will  be  of  great  value  to  the 
Church  of  God  for  years  to  come.  The  great  battle  for 
reformation  is  not  ended  nor  is  the  victory  complete. 
The  same  great  principles  must  be  contended  for  through 
all  time.  Truth  must  be  maintained  and  error  exposed. 
The  old  forms  of  sectarian  error  may  vanish  nearly  out 
of  sight  for  a  time,  only  to  reappear  at  a  propitious  time. 

After  generations  will  better  appreciate  the  labors  of 
such  men  as  Benjamin  Franklin  than  the  one  now  present. 
Those  who,  in  after  years,  read  the  printed  debates  of 
his,  will  find  much  to  instruct  and  admire  in  the  bold  and 
fearless  arguments  of  the  great  reformer. 

His  warfare  has  ended  and  he  has  passed  on  to  reap 
the  reward  of  his  incessant  toils.  He  has,  ere  this, 
joined  the  company  of  his  brave  and  self-sacrificing  asso- 
ciates. Methinks  I  can  see  Franklin,  Campbell,  Scott, 
Stone,  and  a  host  of  heroic  saints  who  have  entered  their 
rest,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  in  the  Paradise  of  God, 
learning  of  Him  still  more  and  more,  constantly  increas- 
ing in  wisdom,  love  and  power — still  looking  for  and 
hastening  into  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God# 
22 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

/T\HE  following  chapter  will  close  this  volume.     We 
I      have  imperfectly  sketched  the  life  of  a  great  man.  A 
brief  review  of  the  eventful  life  of  our  distinguished 
subject  is  now  in  place. 

In  the  wilds  of  Bellmont  County,  Ohio,  in  years  long 
agone,  we  find  the  rude  and  uncultivated  subject  of  our 
sketch — a  frolicsome,  gleeful  boy,  sporting  among  the 
hills  and  dense  forests  of  a  wild  and  uncultivated  country, 
or  wandering  up  and  down  its  streams  angling,  hunting, 
sporting,  whistling  and  dancing  to  his  own  music.  A  sim- 
ple child  of  nature — little  thinking  and  not  even  dream- 
ing of  the  eventful  scenes  through  which  his  future  life 
would  lead  him.  His  mind  was  then  free  from  the  many 
cares  and  anxieties  which  in  after  years  it  experienced. 
"  Not  a  wave  of  sorrow  rolled  across  his  peaceful  breast." 
Before  the  light  of  day  had  chased  the  shadows  of  night 
away  he  could  have  been  seen  with  his  much  loved  and 
newly  purchased  rifle  in  hand  on  the  Lord's  day  morning, 
peering  through  the  dense  wild  wood,  hoping  to  catch 
the  glance  of  a  wild  beast's  eye  that  he  might  test  the 
value  of  his  forest  weapon.  Not  finding  the  coveted  game 
he  selects  a  suitable  spot  on  some  distant  tree,  drives  the 
ball  to  the  centre  of  the  spot,  and  ere  the  sun  lights  up 
the  heavens,  he  quietly  and  unobserved ly  seeks  the  place 
of  his  nightly  repose,  that  his  pious  parents  might  not 
know  the  wild  and  reckless  impulses  of  his  unsanctified 
heart.  The  day  the  Lord  blessed  and  made  holy  by  his 
own  resurrection,  he  spent  in  idle  rambles,  profane  ant} 


ELDER   BENJAMitt   FRANKLitt.  49 1 

foolish  conversation.  In  after  years,  upon  the  Lord's  day 
he  could  be  seen  moving  with  firm  and  dignified  step  and 
solemn  countenance  toward  the  house  of  God,  where  vast 
multitudes  would  assemble  to  hear  him  proclaim  the  glad 
news  from  heaven.  All  eyes  were  fixed  upon  him,  and 
all  ears  open  to  hear  his  burning  words  of  truth  and  love. 
At  his  call,  sinners  in  great  numbers  would  come  bonding 
with  guilt  and  shame  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  He  was, 
indeed,  happier  in  the  midst  of  a  scene  like  this,  than  he 
was  when  he  was  the  free  child  of  the  forest. 

When  but  a  youth,  tall,  muscular  and  commanding  in 
physical  proportions,  possessed  of  an  eagle's  eye,  of  a 
strong  and  steady  hand,  he  became  the  champion  of  both 
axe  and  rifle.  But  he  knows  nothing  of  science,  art  and 
literature,  and  of  the  wonderful  stores  of  useful  knowledge 
contained  in  the  vast  libraries  of  earth.  He  knows  nothing 
of  the  delicacies  and  refinements  of  polished  and  cultivated 
society.  He  had  not  yet  "  tasted"  of  the  sweets  of  the 
good  "word  of  God,  of  the  heavenly  gift,  and  of  the 
powers  of  the  world  to  come."  He  had  not  yet  learned 
to  love  the  "blessed  Jesus"  (as  he  was  wont  to  call  him), 
whom  he  so  much  worshipped  and  adored  in  after  years. 
He  had  not  learned  that  the  Lord  is  very  gracious,  "slow 
to  anger  and  plenteous  in  mercy."  He  had  not  so  much 
as  dreamed  of  the  fullness  and  richness  of  the  blessings  of 
God  in  "  heavenly  places  in  Christ." 

The  snowy-haired  and  silverv-tomrued  Samuel  Rogers 
was  the  first  to  arrest  the  attention  of  the  wayward  youth, 
and  to  fix  it  forever  on  the  truth  of  God.  His  first  conviction 
of  Divine  truth  was  expressed  in  the  significant  interrog- 
atory, "Is  it  right  to  obey  a  command?"  His  mind 
settled  down  forever  upon  the  solemn  conviction  that  it  is 
not  only  right  to  obey  one  command,  but  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  all  men  to  obey  every  command  of  God.     This 


492  THE   LtFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

solemn  conviction  proved  to  be  the  main  spring  of  his  life. 
Little  did  Father  Rogers  know  that  he  was  bringing  into 
the  fold  of  Christ  one  who  was  to  become  a  great  leader 
among  the  saints  of  God,  and  who  was  to  leave  to  the 
world  a  name  and  example  to  be  loved  and  imitated  by 
the  good  and  great  of  coming  generations.  What  won- 
derful results  often  spring  from  seemingly  trifling  events. 
The  deep-seated  and  thorough  conversion  of  Benjamin 
Franklin  while  but  an  ignorant  and  uncultivated  youth, 
and  his  remarkable  life  of  faith  and  devotion  that  followed, 
strikingly  illustrate  the  wonderful  and  transforming  power 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Truly  is  it  God's  power  unto 
salvation.  What  a  wonderful  and  satisfactory  proof  does 
his  case  furnish  of  the  perfect  adaptation  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  depraved  and  lost  condition  of  man.  It  lifts  his 
feet  from  the  mire  and  clay,  and  rests  them  firmly  on  the 
rock  of  ages.  No  man,  perhaps,  since  the  days  of  Paul, 
ever  found  a  firmer  footing  on  the  Rock,  than  did  Benja- 
min Franklin.  His  foot  never  slipped  in  this  way  or  that, 
but  remained  as  immovable  as  the  foundation  on  which  it 
rested.  Neither  the  powers  of  earth  or  hell  could  move 
him  from  the  great  foundation. 

The  youth  of  the  forest,  after  his  conversion  enters 
upon  a  new  life  in  Christ,  becomes  a  new  creature,  and 
old  things  pass  away  forever.  He  exchanges  the  wood- 
man's ax  for  the  glittering  sword  of  the  Spirit — the  bullet 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  send  home  to  the  heart 
of  the  wild  beast,  he  exchanges  for  the  javelin  of  heaven's 
truth,  which  he  directs  with  deadly  aim  at  the  depraved 
heart  of  sinners  ;  he  exchanges  the  wild  way  of  the  woods 
for  the  bright  and  shining  way  that  leads  to  Christ  and 
heaven.  After  his  conversion,  he  arises  as  a  lion  from  his 
lair,  to  seek  and  destroy  with  the  armor  of  heaven  the 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  493 

enemies  of  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ.  Nothing  could  im- 
pede his  progress,  as  Providence  seemed  to  direct  his  every 
step.  Neither  the  want  of  education,  or  the  sneers  and 
jeers  of  learned  critics,  could  for  a  moment  daunt  him. 
So  deep  were  his  convictions  of  truth,  and  so  profound 
and  penetrating  his  consciousness  of  duty,  that  he  braved 
every  danger  and  overcame  every  difficulty.  He  was 
"  victory  organized,"  and  destined  either  "  to  find  a  war, 
or  make  one."  As  was  said  of  Napoleon,  by  his  chief  of 
command,  so  it  might  have  been  fitlv  said  of  the  youthful 
Franklin,  "promote  this  young  man,  or  he  will  promote 
himself."  By  his  own  efforts,  and  almost  unaided,  he 
acquired  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education.  His 
eagle  eye,  which  had  so  often  and  so  accurately  glanced 
along  the  rifle  barrel,  now  traces  the  golden  lines  of 
heaven's  truth.  He  bids  farewell  forever  to  the  company 
of  the  wicked  and  profane,  and  enters  the  bonds  of  faith 
and  devotion  with  the  saints  of  God.  From  henceforth 
he  is  to  keep  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil  behind 
him,  heaven  and  eternal  life  before  him.  He  enters  upon 
his  grand  career  of  usefulness  with  the  prayer  in  his  heart, 
•?  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of 
Jesus  Christ  whereby  the  world  is  crucified  unto  me  aud 
I  unto  the  world." 

When  but  an  unlettered  youth,  with  faltering  words  and 
broken  sentences,  he  speaks  the  praises  of  his  God  and 
Christ.  However  rude  the  casket  that  contains  a  strong 
and  vigorous  faith,  it  is  always  one  of  beauty  and  attrac- 
tion. The  striking  contrast  between  the  rude  earthen 
vessel  and  its  contents,  but  increases  the  wonder  and 
admiration  of  the  beholder.  Crowds  of  his  neighbors  and 
friends  gather  in  their  log  cabins  and  beneath  the  shelter- 
ing woods,  to  hear  the  youthful  preacher  tell  the  "  old, 


494  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP 

old  story  "  of  Jesus  and  his  love.  Hard  hearts  are  touched 
and  tendered  by  strong  and  earnest  appeals  in  behalf  of 
the  cross  of  Christ.  Under  the  softening  influences  of  the 
grace  of  God,  sinners  soon  come  bowing  to  the  cross  of 
Christ,  crying  for  mercy  and  pardon.  When  they  ask  the 
great  question,  "  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved,"  the  youth- 
ful man  of  God  returns  the  proper  Scriptural  answer, 
"  repent,  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  yon,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  you  shall 
receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  He  that  believeth 
and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved."  He  argued,  that  "  if 
men  so  entered  the  church  and  so  received  pardon  in  the 
days  of  the  Apostles,  that  they  could  now  enter  and  be 
saved  in  the  same  manner.  If  such  was  the  only  way 
pointed  out  by  the  finger  of  God,  then  there  can  be  no 
other  way  now. 

This  is  the  true  and  only  safe  ground,  and  without  such 
a  basis,  there  can  be  no  reformation,  and  sectarianism  is 
as  valuable  as  the  apostolic  doctrine.  Success  marks  every 
step  of  the  rising  hero.  His  native  power  and  genius 
unfold  their  lustre  with  amazing  rapidity.  He  is  not  con- 
tent to  be  confined  to  the  limits  of  his  own  neighborhood, 
and,  inspired  by  the  great  commission,  "go  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  he  passes 
out  into  neighboring  communities,  and  spreads  abroad  the 
joyful  intelligence  among  his  fellow-men.  His  tongue  is 
loosened,  and  with  power  and  effect  proclaims  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ.  Not  yet  content,  he  grasps 
his  pen  and  brings  it  into  full  subjection  to  the  law  of 
Christ.  He  makes  it  a  mighty  power  among  men.  Tongue 
and  pen  harmoniously  move  to  make  known  the  wonderful 
love  of  God  and  Christ.  With  him  "  day  unto  day  utter- 
eth  speecbj  and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge. " 


ELDER   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  495 

Every  day  proclaims  the  truth  of  God,  and  every  night 
records  his  love.  Not  a  day,  not  an  hour,  not  a  golden 
moment  of  time  is  lost,  or  allowed  to  pass,  without  the 
accomplishment  of  some  good.  Sinners  must  be  con- 
verted, and  saints  established  in  the  holy  faith.  The  hun- 
gry must  be  fed,  the  naked  clothed,  the  weak  ones 
strengthened,  and  the  sorrowing  ones  comforted.  The 
Gospel  is  the  only  power  that  can  bring  about  these  grand 
results.  The  Gospel  preached,  believed  and  practiced. 
So  taught  the  youthful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Both  the  tongue  and  pen  of  Mr.  Franklin  soon  became 
exponents  of  reason  and  scripture.  His  pen  drew  no 
fancy  sketches  and  painted  no  false  colors,  but  recorded 
important  truths  and  facts,  both  rapidly  and  accurately. 
Soon  his  name  was  heralded  from  the  bleak  regions 
of  the  north  to  the  ever  blooming  vales  of  the  south.  The 
wild,  romping  boy  of  the  forest  is  now  the  strong  and 
stalwart  man  of  God.  He  springs,  as  if  by  a  single  leap, 
from  his  place  of  obscurity  into  position  and  line  with 
such  reformers  as  A.  Campbell  (the  scholar,  the  patriot, 
the  philosopher  and  the  most  enlightened  Christian  since 
the  days  of  Paul),  Walter  Scott,  the  eloquent  and  zealous 
proclaimer  of  the  ancient  gospel ;  B.  W.  Stone,  whose 
meekness  and  loveliness  of  character  excited  the  admira- 
tion of  all ;  Jacob  Creath,  the  lion  and  the  tiger  com- 
bined, and  a  host  of  others,  if  not  of  equal  talent, 
of  equal  faith  and  zeal  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness. His  name  and  fame  became  so  great,  that  the 
author  of  "The  Living  Pulpit"  said  of  him:  "Wher- 
ever among  Christians  the  Bible  alone  is  the  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  there  the  name  of  Benjamin  Franklin  is  as 
familiar  as  household  gods."  He  was  known  by  his 
Christian  publications,  not  only  by  bis  own  brethren  in 
the  Lord,  but  was  known  and  recognized  by  the  various 


496  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF 

religious  sects  of  the  land  after  the  death  of  Alexander 
Campbell,  as  the  strong  man  of  the  Reformation.  The 
compliments  that  have  been  paid  Mr.  Franklin  by  his  own 
brethren  through  the  public  prints  would  fill  a  good  sized 
volume.  His  correspondents  from  one  end  of  the  country 
to  the  other  were  constantly  praising  him  for  his  course 
and  tendering  to  him  their  hearty  support.  Especially 
was  he  praised  for  his  unswerving  devotion  to  the  truth, 
and  his  firm  resolve  to  maintain  it  to  the  last.  But  the 
vast  amount  of  praise  lavished  upon  him  did  not  make 
him  vain.  He  remained  to  the  clay  of  his  death  the  espe- 
cial friend  and  advocate  of  the  poor  and  ignorant  who  are 
often,  on  account  of  their  lowly  position  in  society,  im- 
posed upon  by  others. 

The  opposition  that  is  brought  to  bear  against  a  man  in 
life  is  an  evidence  of  his  power  and  influence.  No  man  is 
truly  great  who  never  had  an  enemy  or  opposition  to  face. 
All  good  and  great  men  meet  with  opposition  in  life. 
Courage,  stength  and  efficiency  are  developed  by  opposi- 
tion. Benjamin  Franklin  was  developed  and  his  powers 
expanded,  by  the  flood  of  sectarian  bitterness  that  was 
poured  upon  him.  Success  is  very  nearly  the  measure  of 
power.  Mr.  Franklin  was  successful  in  all  his  undertak- 
ings, and  his  wonderful  success  in  all  the  departments  of 
Christian  labor  is  the  proper  measure  of  his  power  and 
ability,  both  as  a  speaker  and  a  writer.  He  had  the  abil- 
ity to  clear  the  way  before  him,  and  could  not  be  hedged 
in  by  his  opposers.  He  has  often  been  assailed  by  supe- 
rior numbers  and  learning,  but  never  failed  in  a  single  case 
known  to  the  writer  to  cut  his  way  out.  He  often 
entered  a  controversy  with  but  few,  if  any,  supporters 
and  generally  came  out  with  a  host  of  enthusiastic  admir- 
ers. It  is  not  intended  to  assert  that  he  was  always  right 
in  the  positions  he  assumed,  but  simply  to  say  he  very 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  497 

successfully  advocated  his  own  cause,  and  seldom  failed 
to  make  it  appear  to  the  unprejudiced  as  the  better  side. 

He  was  in  the  days  of  his  full  grown  manhood  recog- 
nized wherever  he  was  known  as  a  mighty  power  in  the 
pulpit.  Vast  numbers  crowded  together  to  hear  him  dis- 
course from  the  book  of  God,  and  thousands  bowed  to 
the  mandates  of  heaven's  King  under  the  influence  of  the 
truth  as  preached  by  him.  At  one  time  he  was  the  most 
popular  preacher  in  the  ranks  of  the  Disciples.  He 
received  and  answered  more  calls  than  any  man  living  or 
dead  in  the  ranks. 

He  filled  with  dignity,  grace  and  efficiency,  for  thirty- 
seven  years  the  editorial  chair.  The  traces  of  his  editor- 
ial pen  may  be  found  in  almost  every  Christian  family  in 
the  land.  The  old  volumes  of  the  American  Christian 
Review  are  hoarded  up  by  many  as  precious  jewels,  to  be 
read  again  and  again.  His  valuable  and  scriptural  an- 
swers to  a  great  number  of  important  scripture  questions 
would  make  a  volume  of  great  value  to  the  Christian 
public. 

He  became  a  great  debater.  He  was  know  and  recog- 
nized everywhere,  both  by  friend  and  foe,  as  a  powerful 
opponent.  Both  with  tongue  and  pen  he  entered  freely 
into  the  discussion  of  many  important  subjects  connected 
with  the  Christian  faith  and  practice.  He  wrote  many 
valuable  tracts  and  became  the  author  of  two  volumes  of 
valuable  sermons.  Men  of  learning  who  have  sometimes 
sneered  at  him  as  an  uneducated  man,  have  been  known 
to  memorize  and  repeat  his  sermons  verbatim,  and  have 
thus  tacitly  admitted  his  superiority,  and  attested  at  the 
same  time  the  unfairness  and  weakness  of  human 
nature.  In  some  cases  his  most  violent  opposers,  having 
met  some  infidel  whose  evasions  and  objections  they 
could  not  answer,  have  slyly  placed  in  his  hands  "  Frank- 


498  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

lin's  Sermons."  Great  men  seldom  fail  to  excite  jealousy 
in  the  minds  of  their  inferiors.  Very  many  preachers  be- 
came jealous  of  the  talent  and  influence  of  Mr.  Franklin 
and  in  some  cases  combined  against  him  with  a  view  of 
correcting  the  minds  of  the  people  as  to  the  estimate  they 
placed  upon  him.  The  very  effort  that  they  made  in  com- 
bination became  in  the  minds  of  the  people  an  evidence 
of  his  superiority,  which  greatly  increased  his  popularity. 
Persecute  a  man  and  his  friends  will  rally  to  his  support, 
while  his  enemies  are  speading  his  name  abroad  and 
directing  attention  to  him. 

We  may  here  pause  for  a  moment  to  enquire  as  to  the 
sources  of  such  unusual  power  and  efficiency  as  Mr. 
Franklin  exhibited.  The  world  in  which  we  live  is  not 
one  of  chance,  but  one  of  cause  and  effect.  If  we  are 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  a  given  cause  it  will  not  be 
difficult  to  determine  what  the  effect  will  be.  There  is 
often  a  seeming  strangeness  in  the  developments  of  human 
character.  Why  does  one  man,  surrounded  by  unfavora- 
ble and  opposing  circumstances,  reach,  in  the  face  of  all 
opposition,  and  exalted  position  among  men,  and  another 
by  his  side,  possessing  every  advantage,  fail  to  reach  an 
eminence?  There  must  of  necessity  be  a  cause  for  this. 
There  is  something  in  the  nature  and  constitution  of  a  man 
that  makes  him  what  he  is,  and  which  becomes  the  main- 
spring of  his  life,  aside  from  education,  which  is  but  an- 
other name  for  opportunity.  In  this  sense  God  makes 
men  great,  and  hence  no  man  can  be  truly  great  who  was 
not  born  so,  or  in  whose  constitution  the  true  elements  of 
greatness  cannot  be  found.  Native  genius  and  power 
seek  opportunity,  and  will  have  it.  True  genius  educates 
and  elevates  itself  by  grasping  and  utilizing  every  means 
of  development  and  success.  The  truly  great  mind  is  its 
own  tutor  and  needs  no  prompter.     It  thinks,  reasons* 


ELDER   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  499 

knows  and  wills  for  itself.  It  is  its  own  arbiter  and  is  ab- 
solutely independent  of  other  minds.  It  acts  as  jury, 
judge  and  council  in  every  cause  brought  before  it. 
Every  truly  great  mind  is  conscious  of  its  own  powers  to 
that  extent  that  no  amount  of  opposition  will  destroy  its 
self-reliance.  The  truly  great  mind  is  not  passive  to  that 
extent  that  it  yields  to  every  influence,  by  which  it 
is  moulded  first  into  this  form  then  into  that,  but  moulds, 
fashions  and  transforms  everything  that  comes  before  it 
into  its  own  ideal  and  purpose. 

Benjamin  Franklin  possessed  in  his  nature  and  consti- 
tution the  elements  of  true  greatness.  No  man  without 
very  superior  ability  could  have  mastered  difficulties  over- 
come opposing  circumstances  and  reached  such  an  exalted 
position  as  he  did.  His  great  mind  turned  in  upon  itself, 
and,  concious  of  its  own  powers,  wrought  wonders  both 
within  and  without.  It  did  not  wait  for  opportunity  and 
favorable  circumstances,  but  created  opportunity  and 
fashioned  circumstance  to  its  own  will.  It  did  not  delay 
for  a  moment  because  the  best  material  was  not  at  hand, 
but  seized  at  once  the  very  best  in  reach  with  which  it 
worked  with  a  will  until  the  better  way  appeared.  He 
did  not  go  to  other  men  to  decide  important  issues  for 
him,  but  directing  his  attention  to  the  matters-of-fact  in- 
volved,  and  having  once  examined  them  fully  and  fairly, 
he  decided  for  himself.  When  he  made  a  decision  in  any 
matter  he  had  his  reasons  for  it,  and  upon  that  decision 
his  mind  would  rest  until  convinced  of  error.  So  thorough 
were  his  investigations  and  accurate  his  decisions,  that  he 
seldom  had  occasion  to  change.  He  was  a  man  of  pro- 
found convictions  and  of  great  decison  of  character,  and 
hence  was  hard  to  move  from  his  chosen  positions,  Some 
of  his  opposers  thought  him  to  be  stubborn,  simply  be*- 
cause  he  adhered  to  facts  and  principles  at,  a.U  times  ancl 


500  THE   LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP 

under  all  circumstances.  He  believed  that  he  could  in- 
vestigate, reason  and  decide  properly,  and  so  believing  he 
discussed  matters  generally,  reasoned  and  acted  according 
to  his  best  judgment. 

Every  truly  great  mind  is  affirmative  or  decisive  in 
character.  The  negative  mind  decides  nothing,  but  is 
simply  passive  and  tails  in  with  the  views  and  opinions 
of  others.  Benjamin  Franklin  possessed  the  positive 
mind.  He  affirmed  boldly  and  without  reservation  that 
which  he  believed  to  be  true,  upon  sufficient  evidence,  and 
defied  contradiction.  He  feared  no  opposition,  in  that  he 
believed  his  ground  to  be  well  taken,  and  in  perfect  har- 
mony with  truth  and  fact. 

The  great  mind  leads  out  and  does  not  seek  to  be  led 
as  a  blind  man.  The  great  mind  goes  to  the  front,  re- 
moves obstructions,  clears  and  opens  up  the  way  for  others. 
Mr.  Franklin  was  not  a  follower,  moping  behind  and  fal- 
ling into  the  trail  made  by  other  men — but  he  was  a 
leader,  <roin<r  before  and  beckoning  to  others  to  follow  in 
the  chosen  and  better  way  which  he  was  accustomed  to 
call  "  the  right  way  of  the  Lord."  In  choosing  the  way, 
he  "  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood  " — neither  did  he 
rely  upon  numbers  of  supporters  for  success,  but  upon 
the  truth. 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  and  thus  it  is  written,"  decided 
every  issue  with  him.  No  man  or  number  of  men,  how- 
ever learned,  influential  or  great  could  turn  him  from 
what  he  believed  to  be  right.  He  might  be  branded  by 
men  in  high  places  as  "uneducated,"  as  "coarse  and  un- 
refined," as  an  "old  fogy,"  or  what  not,  still  he  would 
remain  unmoved  from  his  strong  position,  seemingly  un- 
affected, save  that  he  would  continue  to  fortify  and  make 
his  position  stronger  still,  and  invulnerable  to  the  enemy. 

No  mm  can  command  and  hold  the  multitude  as  Mr, 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  501 

Franklin  did,  who  does  not  possess  very  superior  powers. 
A  sensational  and  shallow-pated  man  may  excite  the  rab- 
ble and  hold  them  spell-bound  for  a  little  while,  but  real 
ability  is  required  to  retain  and  hold  for  many  years  the 
admiration  of  the  people.  The  admiration  which  Mr. 
Franklin's  friends  had  for  him  increased  with  years.  Every 
year  added  lustre  to  his  name,  and  laurels  to  his  brow. 
The  more  intimately  his  friends  became  acquainted  with 
him,  and  the  more  they  knew  of  him,  the  greater  became 
their  attachment  for  him.  His  readers,  throughout  a  pe- 
riod of  forty  years,  never  tired.  His  hearers  always 
desired  to  hear  him  again.  He  excited  in  men  a  love  for 
the  truth  rather  than  for  himself.  It  was  what  he  said 
that  riveted  attention  rather  than  the  man  who  said  it,  or 
the  manner  of  saying  it.  Both  his  tongue  and  pen  seemed 
never  to  grow  weary,  and  were  never  allowed  to  remain 
idle  for  any  considerable  time.  His  stock  of  useful  knowl- 
edge seemed  never  to  be  exhausted,  and  ideas  flowed  into 
his  mind  more  rapidly  than  they  could  flow  out. 

Multitudes  who  had  never  seen  the  man  learned  to  love 
him  with  an  intense  admiration.  He  travelled  more  ex- 
tensively than  any  man  in  the  ranks  of  the  christian 
brotherhood  in  America,  as  a  preacher,  and  yet  could  not 
answer  to  half  the  calls  that  were  made  upon  him  for  his 
time. 

He  began  life  a  poor  boy,  but  soon  acquired  a  compe- 
tency for  himself  and  family.  He  reared  a  large  family 
of  children,  whom  he  brought  up  in  the  nurture  and  in- 
struction of  the  Lord.  At  the  proper  age  they  promptly 
united  with  the  church  of  God,  of  which,  at  this  day,  they 
are  worthy  members.  He  gave  his  children  a  liberal  ed- 
ucation, and  secured  for  them,  as  they  became  of  age, 
honorable  positions  in  society.  This  important  work  he 
did  not  accomplish  alone,  but  by   the   aid   of  a  faithful, 


502  THE    LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

patient  and  enduring  wife,  for  whose  declining  years  he 
made  ample  provision,  and  who  yet  survives  to  lament 
his  departure  from  earth.  As  she  bore  with  him  patiently 
and  without  murmur,  for  many  long  years,  the  cross  of 
Jesus  Christ  with  him,  ere  long  she  will  also  wear  the 
crown.  He  could  not  have  accomplished  the  great 
amount  of  good  he  did  in  life,  had  she  not  been  faithful 
at  home.  What  devoted  husband  wotdd  not  divide  the 
honors  of  heaven  with  a  loving  wife?  His  eldest  son, 
Joseph,  has  been  for  years  an  acceptable  preacher  of  the 
gospel,  and  is  regarded  by  some  as  equal  to,  if  not  su- 
perior to,  his  father.  He  has  sufficient  education  to  qual- 
ify him  for  a  good  degree  of  usefulness  in  life,  and  for 
years  has  been  devoted  to  both  teaching  and  preaching. 

He  is  quite  as  much  devoted  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
and  a  pure  religion  as  was  his  father,  but  is  of  a  milder 
temperament,  and  looks  upon  the  mistakes  of  others  with 
a  greater  degree  of  allowance. 

The  life  of  a  man  is  not  to  be  estimated  simply  by  the 
good  that  he  may  accomplish  in  person,  but  also  by  the 
good  he  induces  others  to  do,  as  well  as  by  the  character 
and  influence  he  may  leave  behind.  The  fruits  of  Benja- 
min Franklin's  labors  were  both  immediate  and  remote. 
He  sowed  the  good  seed  of  the  kingdom,  and  reaped  the 
fruit  as  he  passed  along.  His  efforts  after  he  came  fully 
into  the  work  would  average  one  convert  to  each  sermon. 
It  was  his  custom  throughout  his  ministerial  course  to  fol- 
low every  discourse  with  an  earnest  appeal,  and  an  invita- 
tion to  sinners  to  renounce  their  sins  and  confess  their 
Lord.  But  the  immediate  fruit  of  his  preaohing  was  not 
simply  that  of  conversion.  He  imparted  to  the  outside 
world  a  vast  amount  of  valuable  information,  which  finally 
resulted  in  the  conversion  of  many.  He  removed  formida- 
ble objection^  from  t]ae  minds  of  skeptics,  and  set  them 


EI/DER    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  503 

to  thinking  in  the  right  way.  He  stopped  the  mouths  of 
gainsay ers,  and  put  to  silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish 
men.  He  instructed  the  saint,  strengthened  his  faith,  and 
caused  him  to  be  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus.  His  preaching  was  a  groat  source  of  encourage- 
ment to  the  saints  everywhere,  and  awakened  in  them  a 
lively  zeal  and  earnestness  in  the  cause  of  the  great  Re- 
deemer. At  the  conclusion  of  his  meetings,  all  were 
resolved  to  be  more  faithful  and  active  in  the  cause  of 
Christ. 

Though  the  labors  of  Benjamin  Franklin  have  closed 
on  earth,  yet  his  influence  for  good  has  not  ceased. 
Though  dead,  yet  he  speaks  to  succeeding  generations 
words  of  truth  and  soberness.  His  example  will  live  to 
stimulate  the  faith  and  devotion  of  the  saints  of  the  last 
generation.  Such  a  name  and  influence  reaches  out  into 
eternity.  Many  of  the  living  are  now  actuated  by  his 
holy  teaching  and  example,  to  nobler  deeds  of  faith  and 
love.  The  chief  labors  and  reflections  of  his  life  are  safe- 
ly garnered  in  his  two  volumes  of  sermons.  Many  thou- 
sands of  the  living  are  now  reading  these  sermons  with 
profit,  and  coming  generations  will  read  them  with  great 
interest  and  delight.  They  will,  in  years  to  come,  cast 
the  light  of  heaven  in  the  way  of  many  a  benighted  sin- 
ner, and  lead  him  safely  to  the  Lord  of  Life  and  Glory. 
They  will  serve  to  comfort  the  saints  of  God  as  they  come 
up  through  much  tribulation,  washing  their  robes  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb.  They  will  greatly  confirm  and  settle 
the  faith  of  the  disciple  of  Christ.  Th'vv  will  serve  as 
landmarks  to  young  preachers,  in  that  they  will  enable 
them  to  better  understand  the  precious  word  of  God. 
Sincerity  Seeking  the  Way  to  Heaven,  (one  of  the  most 
valuable  productions  of  his  pen),  will  illuminate  the  dark 
and  mystic  way  of  the  sectarian  with  the  light  of  heaven's 


504  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

truth,  and  conduct  him  safely  into  the  possession  of  the 
eternal  riches  of  '*  Grace  in  Jesus  Christ.'' 

The  Union  Movement  (a  valuable  tract),  will  serve  in 
all  time,  as  a  complete  expose  of  sectarianism,  and  will 
set  forth  in  clear  and  unmistakable  terms,  the  only  true 
grounds  of  Christian  union.  If  the  doctrine  set  forth  in 
this  tract  was  urged  to-day,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Muster, 
it  would  do  more  to  unite  God's  people  than  any  com- 
promise that  can  be  made.  Every  attempt  to  conciliate 
the  sects  tends  to  division  and  disruption.  Cleaving  to 
the  Bible  alone  is  union,  and  departing  from  it  is  division. 
Compromising  its  holy  truths  is  disunion  in  effect.  Mr. 
Franklin's  views  were  uncompromising  as  respects  the 
Church  of  God.  He  advocated  the  one  Church  or  body 
for  which  Jesus  shed  His  precious  blood,  and  looked  upon 
all  other  churches  than  the  true  church  as  human  inven- 
tions set  up  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  God. 

The  several  volumes  of  the  "Reformer^  the  "Clirist- 
Age,"  and  the  "A.  U.  Revieiv,"  have  placed  before  the 
world  a  vast  fund  of  religious  light  and  knowledge,  and 
have  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  the  minds  of  many. 

It  is  the  present  purpose  of  the  authors  of  this  volume, 
to  collect  from  the  various  sources,  above  named,  the 
most  valuable  and  telling  productions  of  his  pen,  and  pre- 
sent them  to  the  public  m  a  volume  to  be  entitled  "A 
Book  of  Gems,"  or  choice  selections,  that  the  best 
things  he  has  ever  written  may  be  preserved  in  a  con- 
venient form  for  future  reference.  This  book  will  be  a 
valuable  addition  to  our  Christian  literature,  as  well  as  the 
source  of  very  valuable  information  on  many  important 
subjects.  ^ 

Many  are  looking  forward  to  this  book  as  a  gem  of  great 
price.     A  book  of  queries  and  answers  collected  from  his 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  505 

writings  would  also  be  of  great  value  to  the  inquiring 
mind,  and  would  disseminate  much  valuable  information 
on  many  interesting  subjects. 

In   conclusion  we  are  led  to  ponder  on  the  important 
question :     Will  the  great  and   God-given  principles  for 
wnich  Benjamin  Franklin  labored,  suffered  and  sacrificed 
be  maintained?     Will  the  cause  of  pure  apostolic  religion 
for  which  he  so  successfully  contended,   languish  and  die 
in  the  hands  of  its  friends?     Will  his  noble  example  and 
influence  be  lost  to  the  world?      The  heart  of  every  true 
disciple  that  pulsates  in  harmony  with  heaven's  truth  an- 
swers, No — Never.      Truth  can  never  die,  and  "  though 
crushed  to  earth,  will  rise  again."       It  may  be    buried 
beneath  the  rubbish  of  ignorance,  superstition  and  unbe- 
lief, but,  like  the  seed  planted   in  the  earth,  it  will   ger- 
minate and  come  forth  into  beautiful  and  fruitful  life.     It 
was  the  abiding  faith  of  Mr.  Franklin  that  God  would  pre- 
serve his  truth  and   his  church  through  all  time — that  he 
would  raise  up  noble  men  in  all  the  coming  ages  to  advo- 
cate and  defend  the  religion  of  the  Bible — that   though 
there    should    be  apostasy  and  sad   departures  from  the 
right  way,  there  would  still  be  found  some  who  would 
not  bow  the  knee  to  Baal,  and  who  would  maintain  the 
right  to  the  last.     But  who  are  to  be  those  true  and  faith- 
ful ones?     Will  the  reader  here  revolve  the  question — Am 
I  a  faithful  and  constant  defender  of  the  Bible?  and  does 
my  life  confirm  its  holy  teachings?      Will  I  abandon  the 
cause  of  my  Master,  and  bring  reproach  upon  it?     Happy 
and  blessed  in  the  day  of  God  will  be  that  man,  who,  like 
Benjamin  Franklin,  spends  his  life  and  powers  in  the  de- 
fense and   maintenance  of  the  Bible,  and  in  the  practice 
of  its  holy  precepts.     Heaven  and  eternal  life  will  be  the 
reward  of  such  a  soul. 


506  THE   LIFE    AND    TIMES    OP  y 

We  have  to  give  up  our  loved  dead,  as  precious  as  they 
may  be  to  us.  We  oft  must  turn  away  from  the  newly- 
made  grave  and  say  the  sad  farewell.  We  have  been  com- 
pelled to  resign  the  bodies  of  Campbell,  Stone,  Scott  and 
Franklin  to  the  shades  of  the  tomb.  But  their  spirits  and 
noble  example  are  yet  our  heritage,  and  the  memory  of 
them  is  sweet.  We  have  their  lives,  their  experiences, 
their  example  and  their  holy  teaching,  all  of  which  are  to 
us  invaluable.  Shall  we  not  profit  by  their  godly  exam- 
ple? We  have  the  Bible  containing  the  will  of  God  to 
man,  complete.  We  have  the  lives,  the  holy  teaching  and 
example  of  the  apostles  and  martyred  saints,  to  urge  us  on 
to  duty.  We  have  in  Jesus  the  Christ,  a  friend  who  hath 
said,  "  I  will  never  leave  nor  forsake  thee" — who  hath 
"  numbered  the  very  hairs  of  our  heads,"  and  who  wall 
"  withhold  from  us  no  good  thing." 

We  have  a  vast  multitude  of  noble  and  self-sacrificing 
disciples  scattered  all  over  this  broad  land.  The  cause 
of  apostolic  religion  is  looking  up  everywhere.  The 
various  protestant  sects  are  discussing  the  question  of 
Christian  union,  and  they  are  gradually  but  certainly  cut- 
ting loose  from  human  creeds  and  confessions.  The  Bible 
never  attracted  or  commanded,  in  all  the  history  of  nations, 
the  attention  it  does  to-day.  The  most  profound  study 
of  the  scientist  and  philosopher  is  exhausted  in  a  fruitless 
effort  to  undermine  its  holy  teaching.  If  the  Bible  were 
a  dead  letter,  and  if  it  were  not  making  inroads  upon  the 
nations  of  earth  and  exerting  a  mighty  power  among  men, 
infidels  would  be  silent.  This  great  uprising  in  latter 
days  may,  therefore,  be  taken  as  a  good  omen.  The  Bible 
and  its  holy  teaching  must  be  carried  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  The  true  missionary  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  the  Bible 
from  first  to  last. 


ELDER  BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.  507 

Let  the  watch- word  be — "  go  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.' '  This  was  the  sen- 
timent that  pcrvadi-d  tl.e  heart  of  Benjamin  Franklin— by 
which  his  lite  was  actuated.  His  life  will  be  reproduced 
a  thousand  times.  Others  will  believe  and  teach  as  he 
did — others  will  go  forth  as  he  did,  bearing  the  armor  of 
heaven  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord.  When  a  soldier 
falls  with  armor  on,  on  the  field  of  battle,  his  place  is  soon 
filled  by  another. 

Heaven's  grand  army  is  in  the  field,  and  will  never  be 
withdrawn  until  the  last  trump  shall  sound  and  the  last 
enemy  of  Christ  is  placed  beneath  his  feet.  Heaven  is  just 
above  us;  let  lis,  therefore,  be  reaching  up  to  it,  "for- 
getting the  things  that  are  behind  and  reaching  forward  to 
the  things  that  are  before.' '  Let  us  follow  the  godly 
example  of  our  departed  hero  and  brother,  who  has  fought 
his  last  battle  and  gone  home  to  rest.  Let  us  fight  in  the 
armor  of  heaven  and  in  no  other,  as  he  did,  and  contend 
for  the  truth  of  God  to  the  latest  breath,  that  we  may  die 
as  he  did,  with  our  armor  on,  facing  the  foe  in  the  tri- 
umphs of  faith  and  undying  love.  How  noble  and  grand 
his  life  ;  how  victorious,  yet  tranquil  and  sweet,  his  death. 
No  days  and  weeks  of  languishing  and  suffering,  but  a 
sudden  and  unexpected  exit  from  time  unto  vast  eternity. 
One  step  transported  him  from  the  cross  to  the  crown. 
As  said  of  one  of  old,  "  God  took  him."  To-day  he 
enjoys  the  company  of  apostles,  prophets  and  martyred 
saints,  whom  in  life  he  loved  so  well,  and  whose  example 
he  so  closely  followed  and  so  eloquently  proclaimed.  Paul 
said,  *'  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand."  Benjamin 
Franklin  said,  "  my  time  has  come."  He  was  bold  and 
fearless  in  life,  brave  and  valiant  in  death.  We  would 
impress  upon  every  reader  of  this  imperfect  volume  the 


508  THE    LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF   FRANKLIN. 

life,  character  and  example  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  May 
we  so  live  that  ere  long  we  shall  meet  him  in  the  skies, 
together  with  all  our  loved  ones  who  have  preceded  us,  to 
the  enjoyment  that  surely  remains  for  the  people  of  God. 
"  Be  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  you  a  crown  of 
life." 


THE   END. 


■^   £1M 


■OR- 


FROMTHE WRITINGS  OF  BEN. FRANKLIN 


This  book  will  be  compiled  and  arranged  by  J.  A.  Headington 
and  Jos.  Franklin,  and  will  be  what  it  claims  to  be,  A  BOOK 
OF     QBMS, 

It  will  consist  of  very  choice  selections  from  the  vast  and 
varied  writings  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  on  almost  all  important  subjects 
connected  with  the  Christian  religion.  It  will  be  brim  full  of  Common 
sense,  wit  and  humor,  truth  and  gospel,  and  will  be  as  diversified  as 
human  life,   it  will  be  a  PmQtlQaii  BmU^UQ&k  &i  GQmm&n 

8&USQ  mn(H  &GFiptup@* 


It  will  be  of  greater  value  to  the  "Christian  Pilgkim 

"  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress. 


than 


Every  Disciple  of  Christ  should  possess  this  valuable  book. 
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NOTICE  will  be  given  when  ready. 


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